Possibility
by MonkeeGirl97
Summary: Alexander Richards, a normal high school kid and his best friend Daniel are pulled into the Avengers fight for the Infinity Stones when Doctor Strange finds Alex unaffected by his time halt. Sensing that it's a sign of an answer to keeping at least one of the stones safe, Strange offers it to Alex and is taken off-world by a dangerous foe. Takes place during Infinity War.
1. Field Trip Gone Wrong

"Are you going to hand it over like a good boy, or do I _really_ need to spill more innocent blood?"

I stared past the giant purple alien man, eyes wide and unbelieving as I took in the sight of my first dead body lying on the ground behind him. My breath hitched in my chest as I felt the scalding burn from the necklace in my pocket. I couldn't take my eyes off of the blood pooling on the ground just a few yards away from me.

"Well?" Thanos growled, a taunting look on his towering face. I flicked my gaze once more from the body to his gleaming eyes and felt myself back away slowly. I prepared to shove my hand into my pocket to retrieve what the Mad Titan wanted.

"A-Alright…" I managed to whisper, holding one hand out in front of me to ward off the large Infinity Gauntlet wielding five glowing stones aimed right at me. Thanos didn't lower his glowing fist, but a triumphant look twisted his mouth upward.

"I always assumed this stone would prove to be the most challenging to get. Funny how you're choosing to make it easy for me." He murmured, watching my shaking hand as I moved it toward my jeans pocket slowly. I hesitated as I heard his comment, trying not to let the confusion show too obviously on my face. I shook myself inwardly and felt my hand close over an empty space in my pocket, the burning sensation from the stone now gone.

"I…"

Thanos raised his chin in a smug smirk, once more clenching the gauntlet in a grating sound of metal against metal.

"Time's up…"

The last thing in my vision was a bright flash of green, emanating from the Mad Titan himself.

* * *

Maybe I should back up to the beginning of my troubles to clear things up a bit. My name is Alexander Richards. I'm eighteen and a senior at the Midtown School of Science and Technology. Everything seemed to start while I was on the bus to a field trip one morning, minding my own business while me and my best friend, Daniel Yates were busy antagonizing the two junior girls in the seat in front of us.

"Tina?" Dan said, twirling his finger in the long blonde hair of the girl on the left. She shook her head, shielding her face from both of us as she noticeably glanced at her friend beside her. I leaned forward over the dark haired, ponytailed girl on the right in front of me crossing my arms on the back of their leather bus seat.

"Jennifer?" I guessed, whispering the name in her ear. She jerked forward in surprise, a fit of giggles erupting from her bright pink lips, clearly painted with cheap lipgloss.

"No, but close." She said after her giggle fit had allowed her to answer. Dan still continued to play with the blonde haired girl's hair as her face turned a bright shade of red.

"You're blushing…Georgia?" Dan tried again. The girl gently shooed his hand away, running her own fingers through her long hair as a wide smile spread across her face.

"Nope." She answered lightly. Dan made a show of smacking the back of the seat in defeat.

"Jillian?" I asked hopefully. The dark haired girl in front of me slowly turned around, a surprised look on her face.

"He got you, Jill!" The girl beside her squealed, shoving her friend's shoulder playfully as I smiled in my victory. Jillian pursed her lips and shoved the blonde girl in return, crossing her arms in mock annoyance.

"I'm Alex." I said, offering Jillian my hand enticingly over the back of the bus seat. She took it after a moment, spinning around to sit on her knees to face me.

"I know." She said, her voice soft as her face lit up in a deep blush.

"And you're…Linda…?" Dan said, still staring the blonde girl down over the seat.

"Eww…no!" She laughed, shaking her head. Dan slumped forward, hitting his head on the seat as he tried once more to come up with another guess at her name.

_"We're all gonna die!" _

I squinted past Jillian who immediately whipped her head around, nearly smacking me in the face with her dark ponytail. I could see the underclassman who had shouted as he leaned his head out of the open bus window. Screams of surprise and confusion broke out on the bus as the driver immediately started to shout everybody back to their seats.

"What's the matter with you kids? Haven't you ever seen a spaceship before?!" He finally called back, to the ignorance of the kids all rushing to the side of the bus to get a better view of the giant hovering circle over the skyline of the city. Jillian was standing in her seat now, halfway leaning out her window to look at the spinning ship in the sky. I grabbed her waist to keep her from flying out the window just as the bus jerked to the side. I looked to the other side of the bus to see if a car or something had shoved us nearly off the road. Instead, I got a full view of Spiderman leaping away from our bus, shooting webs randomly to make his way to the flying spaceship across town.

"Did you see that?!" I shouted over the continuing exclamations about the sudden danger of the city. Jillian's eyes were wild as she looked in the direction I was pointing before she shook her head fearfully and turned back to look out the window. The bus seemed to speed up as traffic piled in from all sides, people eager to get back to the city to make sure their families were alright, and some plowing the other way having turned around to retreat.

"What is that thing?!" Dan cried out, having pushed past me to get at the window better. I was looking in the direction I'd seen Spiderman disappear, imagining I could still see him swinging from lamppost to lamppost hurrying to reach the danger.

"Somebody call the Avengers!" A girl shrieked, causing other kids to scream their agreement. The bus driver swerved onto the exit ramp leaving horns blaring around them, having nearly been run off the road by the rampant traffic. I tightly gripped the seat in front of me, as Jillian and the unnamed blonde girl hugged each other in tears.

"Hold on, kids!" The old man shouted as he skidded to a halt facing more stopped traffic as the ramp led into the busy streets of town where distressed people were running out of nearby buildings and cars crashed into the sidewalks to avoid them. As soon as the bus stopped, kids leapt out of their seats and towards the door of the bus, prying it open before the driver could even pull the lever to automatically open it.

"Alex, come on!" Dan cried out, grabbing the strap of my backpack and pulling me to my feet and out of my shocked paralysis. Jillian and her friend were already halfway down the sidewalk by the time Dan and I exited the bus, and I realized that literally no one on the streets knew where they were even running. The giant spaceship was nearing closer and closer to the ground now, almost touching the tops of the towering buildings lining the street, spreading dust and debris in the air and making it difficult to see. The only assurance I had of Dan's presence beside me was his firm grip still on the strap over my shoulder.

"What do we do?! Shouldn't we find cover or something?!" I shouted, shielding myself with my arms as a screaming woman ran into me, nearly knocking me off my feet before she continued to flee in the other direction.

"Look out!" Dan shouted, pulling me around the corner of a building as a nearby lamppost fell down as a result of a car spinning out of control into its base. We both ran down the next street, this one nearly empty of people, but equally littered with abandoned cars. We were nearly right underneath the giant circular spaceship, and I looked straight up at the bottom of it, Dan trying to drag me forward.

"Dan, we've gotta get back!" I shouted at my friend as a bright beam shot down from the undercarriage of the alien ship. I immediately pulled us both out of harm's way and ducked behind a car as the beam hit the road behind us with a deafening boom that shook the ground.

Dan and I sat crouched behind the car, breathing heavily as adrenaline pulsed through our veins. Silence filled the street, everything suddenly unmoving around us. Afraid to even breathe, I just stared at my friend for a long time, waiting for the moment that we would both die.

"Hear me, and rejoice…" An odd voice said from behind us. I threw a panicked look over my shoulder and scooted closer out of sight, still not seeing the source of the voice. "You are about to die by the hands of the children of Thanos…"

"Oh my God…" I hissed fearfully, cringing before the impact I expected would happen any second now. Daniel was crawling away from me, wanting to see the source of the threatening voice. He suddenly stopped, straightening slightly and turning to tap me on the arm.

"Alex…look!" He said hopefully, pulling me forward.

"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today! You'd better pack it up, and get out of here…"

I stared past the hood of the wrecked car we hid behind, hardly believing what I was seeing in front of me.

"That's…that's Tony Stark!" I hissed, shaking Dan in disbelief. "And…and Doctor Strange!"

"And Bruce Banner!" Dan nodded knowingly and slowly pointed out who and what the assembled heroes were facing. Just a few yards away from us, their backs thankfully turned to the cowering kids behind them, were a couple of the strangest looking beings I had ever seen. There was a large hulking one with what looked like a dangerously heavy axe and a shorter, skinnier one who was doing the talking for the pair of them.

"Stonekeeper!" The thinner alien called. Doctor Strange nodded, acknowledging the alien's attention. "Does this chattering animal speak for you?"

"Certainly not, I speak for myself." Doctor Strange stepped forward decisively conjuring up glowing golden discs over his fists as he spoke. My eyes widened in surprise as I realized what was about to go down just a few yards from us. "You're trespassing in this city and on this planet."

"He means get lost Squidward!" Tony Stark called as an afterthought when neither of the threatening aliens made a move. Dan arched his neck a little higher to see what the smaller alien really looked like to cause Tony to name him after one of the characters of the most annoying show on Earth.

"Get down, or they'll see us!" I hissed, dragging him backward as the larger alien made a shuffling move in preparation for their battle. The big guy growled a warning and slammed his weapon into the ground, causing the car Dan and I were hiding behind to rock violently.

"Alex, look he's going to turn into the Hulk!" Dan said once we had regained our balance behind the car. Dan was on his knees, peering through the side window of the car to see the big alien guy stalking menacingly over to the four men down the street. I looked where my friend was pointing and could see indeed that Dr. Banner looked like he was trying to flex his muscles, turning a light shade a green.

"Woah…" I said in surprise as the ordinary sized man seemed to grow slightly larger and then shrink back to his normal size. After a moment, I squinted seeing that Tony Stark was tapping his own thigh agitatedly as he waited for his fellow Avenger to turn into his alter-ego.

"I don't think it's working…" Dann said, ducking a little lower to remain out of sight, but still wanting to see the action down the street. That's when I noticed that the talkative alien with the other worldly accent was still right in front of us, watching his giant alien buddy trudge over to the waiting heroes.

"Dan, we've gotta move!" I said quickly, pulling him away from the wrecked car. "We're too close to this!"

"Alex, wait!" Dan protested as an explosion of sorts sounded from where the few heroes were. I looked up quickly as Dan and I shuffled away from our hiding spot, seeing that Tony Stark had been replaced by Iron Man, his gleaming metal suit shining in the afternoon sunlight. The big alien, even angrier than before shook itself and once more ran at the waiting group.

"Run!" I said as Iron Man fired at the big guy once more. Dan didn't argue this time, weaving over the debris and between the cars as we scrambled for another hiding place. We were interrupted by another loud boom as the giant alien was thrown into the car we had just been hiding behind a moment before.

For a few seconds there was nothing but the sound of grating metal as the alien skidded to a stop and tore through the road, collecting a few cars along the way. I pulled Dan around the corner of the nearest building just as the few trees along the sidewalk were suddenly yanked out of their places in the ground. My head jerked around wildly to find the source of the flying trees and I spotted the other thinner alien moving his fingers, causing the trees to fly towards the heroes with his movement.

"Telekinesis!" Dan breathed, impressed. I shook my head, refusing to be excited about this battle we were both witnessing. I watched in disbelief as Doctor Strange set up a floating car for Iron Man to blast towards the other waiting alien and held my breath in anticipation as it flew speedily towards him. With a casual wave of his hand, the car split in two, just barely missing the thinner alien.

Iron Man shot himself towards the still standing alien and was suddenly thrown backwards as the giant alien had regained his composure. He propelled a huge chain that propelled him all the way down the block towards the park nearby.

Doctor Strange still stood alongside his other magical friend, creating large glowing portals that sent the thinner alien's flying bricks right back to him. Dan pulled me back around the corner of the building as the debris shot into car windshields and the sides of the building we were hiding behind.

"We're going to die here!" Dan suddenly exclaimed, fear causing his voice to squeak. I whirled around in surprise as I could see Doctor Strange fly past the alleyway, his red cape catching my eye.

"The Avengers are here, they're gonna take care of this! We are _not_ gonna die…"

I once more leaned out of the alley to see where the cloaked hero had gone. My eyes widened as I caught the sight of him hanging upside down from the building right above us, the pale, thinner alien floating right in front of him and reaching for something around his neck. The bricks were formed over the magician's body, encasing him in a tight grip.

"Okay…yeah, we might." I relented before leaping back as the alien guy yanked Doctor Strange roughly out of the bricks and threw him angrily to the street below, just a few feet from where Dan and I were hiding. Doctor Strange landed with a pained grunt before pulling himself up and motioning with his hands across his chest, the golden necklace around his neck starting to glow an otherworldly shade of green. I stared in awe as magical green bands of light appeared around his wrists, rotating with the pulses of energy the man was conjuring as he kept his eyes trained on the alien above him. Suddenly his gaze flicked thoughtfully back down and I froze as I felt his eyes land on me. I blinked in surprise and then hurriedly ducked back into the alley while Dan still looked eagerly around the side of the building like he hadn't noticed the magician's astonished stare.

"Kid, I need you to do something for me."

I nearly jumped a foot in the air as a hasty, but commanding voice suddenly spoke up from behind me. I spun around quickly and was nearly nose to nose with the red cloaked magician. Taking a step back, my heart rate still peaking, I cleared my throat.

"Uh…y-yeah?" I finally managed much to the man's torn expression. I glanced past him and could see that Dan still had his back to me, looking around the corner of the building. Doctor Strange didn't even look at my friend as he rolled his eyes and quickly explained.

"He's fine, I just froze everything for a few minutes." He said dismissively. I narrowed my eyes in confusion, looking around at the eerie silence that had once been filled with the sounds of battle.

"If you froze time, then why am I not…?"

"I'm taking it as a sign of confirmation that I'm about to make the right decision." Strange said, as he made an odd assortment of hand gestures, the glowing necklace on his chest twisting and turning mechanically along with his movements.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I stared in awe at the man whose face was etched with deep concentration. He suddenly closed his fist over the pendent, and yanked it forward violently as the green glow dimmed. His eyes latched onto my face seriously as he moved his closed fist toward me. I felt myself hurriedly reach up to take whatever he was going to offer me, noticing that the necklace on his chest had lost its green glow and was in the shape of a closed golden eye.

"Take this, and keep it safe. We're not going to win this battle on Earth today." Doctor Strange said, his gaze wavering slightly as he placed his fist in my open palm. His other hand reached for my other hand, closing my fingers together over the object tightly before he released it to me. My fists radiated with warmth and I chanced a peek between my thumb and pointer finger to find that he had given me a smaller copy of the necklace he wore.

"Uh…thanks…but…what do you want _me_ to do with this?" I asked dumbly as the magician looked around at the still unmoving surroundings as if he were listening for something.

"Make sure no bad guys get ahold of it. That shouldn't be too hard." He said drily. He turned towards the wall that Dan and I had our backs pressed against and made a circular motion with his right hand. Suddenly the wall opened up into a golden glowing portal, the other side revealing what appeared to be one of the fanciest old houses that I'd ever seen. Before I could react, Strange shoved me forward.

"Wait, I'm not so sure you're actually making the right decision here!" I protested, my feet inches from the portal. The man paused, raising an eyebrow at me to continue. When I didn't, he rolled his eyes and grabbed Dan's elbow.

"I'll keep in touch with you the whole time, Alexander. You won't be alone. Wong will be along shortly to make sure you and your friend are comfortable. Now, _go!_" The magician said, shoving both me and Dan who quickly unfroze as the portal closed around us. And with that, we both collapsed on the old wood floor of the fancy house, an overwhelming silence all around us.


	2. Meeting Wong

"Alex…where are we? What just happened?" Dan immediately fired question after question at me as we scrambled confusedly to our feet in the dimly lit museum-like building. I shook my head in dumbfounded silence for a few seconds at our surroundings, closed doors and glass cabinets lining the walls.

"I don't know…" I breathed, afraid to make too much noise. Even our slight movements were amplified in the silence of the house as we walked carefully around the small space we had been teleported to.

"It's too quiet in here…" Dan murmured as he wandered towards one of the glass cabinets. As he squinted through the glass to see what was inside, I ventured to explore the place we were in. I reached the end of a hallway and my eyes reflexively squinted at the bright daylight that filled the large room. I looked up to see the source of the light and frowned as I spotted a large gaping hole in the roof over what had at one time been a grand staircase. The steps were now sunken in and cluttered with debris from the roof directly beneath the hole.

"It may take quite a while to repair that Hulk-sized hole in the roof and stairs, but I can assure you there may be greater problems than that at hand here."

My heart skipped a beat and I slammed my shoulder into the corner of the hallway trying the whirl around the face the person who spoke. He was a shorter, stockier man with the same serene expression as Doctor Strange.

"A-Are you Wong?" I guessed once I had caught my breath from the scare. The man gave a half smile and nodded briefly, looking to my hand which was still clenched in a fist over my heart.

"Strange gave you the Stone?" He commented knowingly, his voice lowered considerably. I slowly held my hand out to the man, uncurling my burning fingers from the object in my palm.

"Ah…he's disguised it fairly well…it looks like a piece of costume jewelry." Wong said approvingly. He looked up to my face, where my fear and disbelief were clearly evident.

"Take it…please. I think he gave it to me to make sure I got it here safely to you." I said quickly, pushing my hand towards him pleadingly. "You're here now, so it's yours. Here."

Wong studied the bronzed necklace in my palm for a long moment in silence before he turned a narrowed gaze up to my face. He shook his head slowly, and seemed to almost look through me when he spoke.

"No. Strange chose to give you the stone for a reason. I cannot take the burden upon myself in an attempt to undo what he has started." He said cryptically. I blinked up at him in disbelief, looking back down at the necklace as I swallowed hard in thought.

"But I'm just a _kid_…"

"…And that's precisely why he must have thought you would be a good cover for it." Wong said with a curt nod as he put a hand on my shoulder and directed me back down the side hallway where Dan and I had been transported moments earlier.

"Where is Doctor Strange now?" I asked hesitantly, fearing that I would know the answer. Wong was silent for a moment before he shook his head.

"He allowed himself to be taken so that the threat would leave this world…for now." He said slowly. I stopped walking and turned to face him, the news feeling like a cold weight had fallen onto me.

"…Taken?" I repeated, my voice cracking. "But…But he was just talking to me a few minutes ago…"

_"Oh my God! Help!" _

My head jerked up in surprise as Wong immediately fell into a battle- ready stance, his fists radiating with golden protective mandalas. I looked in the direction Wong faced, peering over the man's shoulder from where he had stepped in front of me. From the darkness of the hallway, Dan ran screaming, barely stopping in time before he collided with Wong's glowing discs.

"Woah!" Dan exclaimed as he skidded to stop, eyes landing on Wong for a brief second before he pointed anxiously over his own shoulder. "There…there was a huge snake back there!"

"What did you do?" I asked him accusingly. Dan shook his head and continued to frantically point down the hallway.

"It's in one of those cases! I thought it was this old walking stick thing but then it slithered down from the holder and struck at the glass! I thought it was gonna break through!" Dan stammered. Any other time I would have laughed at my friend's situation but with the news I had just heard about one of Earth's defenders being taken…

Wong lowered his fists, the glow fading away as he looked between me and Dan.

"He's with you?" He asked me curtly. I nodded quickly and Dan stepped out of the magician's way as Wong headed down the hallway where Dan had come from.

"That's Wong, Doctor Strange's friend." I explained under my breath as Dan and I hurried to keep up with Wong. He seemed to know the exact case Dan had been talking about because he halted in front of one and made a few quick hand movements. Whatever was moving around in the dark case immediately stopped and Dan and I watched in awe as the magician worked. Wong silently reached through the glass, the material rippling like water as he did so, and he picked up the thing that was in the bottom of the case, replacing it in the holders along the wall. As his arms came back through the glass, he made a few more hand gestures and then stepped back away from the case. I moved to his side and peered into the dark case, seeing exactly what Dan had described – an old, worn walking stick.

"Touch nothing in this house." Wong ordered under his breath, walking back down the hallway. Dan and I stared wide-eyed at the case for a few more seconds before trailing after the man, not wanting to be left alone in one place for too long. When we both had quietly caught up with Wong's swift pace, I finally spoke up.

"Um…I'm Alex, by the way…and this is Dan…I feel like we kinda missed our introductions back there…"

"I know who you are." Wong said simply, not turning to look back at us as we followed him down the hall. Dan gave me a puzzled look which I returned before I skipped a few steps closer to keep up with Wong's quick footfalls.

"How do you know who we are? _M-magic_?" I asked in disbelief, my voice level dropping. Wong smirked to himself and shook his head.

"No, Strange told me about you."

"How is that possible? _When?_ It was less than two minutes after he sent us here that you showed up!" I stopped in my tracks, confusion washing over me yet again. Wong continued to smile to himself and tapped his temple teasingly. My eyes widened and Dan gasped in what I assumed was either excitement or the fact that whatever was in the case beside us flashed briefly like it was taking a photograph of our bewildered expressions.

* * *

"So…what do you think he wanted me to do with it?" I asked Wong. The magician was busying himself in the corner of the room where he had summoned a small fire that was currently floating over a countertop. Dan sat beside me at the large table in the center of the room, eyeing the man with silent awe. The snake scare was still fresh in his mind, and I decided to appreciate his silence for the moment.

"I'm sure he will tell you when something needs to be done." Wong said softly over his shoulder. I raised my eyebrows in acknowledgement, beginning to catch onto the trend that Wong liked to speak in riddles.

"Well, I'm not hearing anything so far…I guess I should take that as a good sign though." I commented lightly. Wong turned around slowly from the corner, carrying a small tea kettle. He set it gently on the tabletop before us, reaching behind him to grab two small cups to place in front of us.

"Or it could also mean that he is preoccupied with other threats at the moment." Wong said bitterly, his expression stern with what I assumed was worry for his colleague.

"Why didn't he give the Stone to someone else? Like Iron Man?" I blurted out. The necklace lay on the table next to where Wong was carefully pouring tea into Dan's cup. Wong shook his head slowly as he proceeded to pour the steaming liquid into my cup.

"Tony Stark followed Strange to seek out the threat." Wong explained, his tone gravely serious. Another stone dropped into my stomach and I shook my head in disbelief.

"If…if they're both gone…then who's going to protect us?" Dan finally spoke up shakily. I glanced over to see his pale face, lined with fear. I flicked my gaze to Wong who turned away from our cups to replace the kettle on the floating flames.

"Drink your tea…it calms the nerves." Wong said, avoiding Dan's question. I sighed heavily, my stomach knotted with worry and dread of what possible threats I had just been burdened with. Staring at the bronze eye on the table next to my cup, I realized how, in the split second that Doctor Strange had frozen time, my world had changed immensely. I reached for the cup by my hand, seeing that my fingers shook considerably before wrapping around it.

"So, we just hold on to this thing and wait, is that my understanding?" I deadpanned, placing my hand protectively over the necklace before raising the cup underneath my nose to smell the earthy scent of the hot tea.

"Drink." Wong ordered again from the corner of the room. I tilted the cup to my lips and noticed a quiet thud to my left. Once I'd taken a large sip of the liquid, I instantly pulled the cup away and blanched at the taste. I looked to my left side, sensing that something was different. My eyes widened as I suddenly realized that I was in the room alone.

* * *

"Alexander."

I jerked my gaze away from the spotless wooden dining table, my heart hammering with confused fear. A tall figure in a billowing red cloak stared levelly down at me, and before my mind could piece together who it was, he gestured to the chair beside me.

"Anyone sitting there?" Doctor Strange asked casually, his voice echoing in the now-empty room. I shook myself internally and watched in fascination as the chair slid away from the table so that he could take a seat beside me.

"Is this a dream?" I asked dumbly after a few seconds. Strange scoffed and shook his head, his goatee twitching with what looked like dark humor.

"No, it's not a dream." He said patiently. He moved his gaze to my hand where it still rested on the tabletop, covering the necklace protectively. "And I really wish you'd keep that somewhere safer."

"I…I know…" I said absently as I slowly slid my hand and the necklace closer to me and the edge of the table.

"I know it's a big responsibility, probably one of the most important you've ever had and ever _will_ have…" He continued, his tone serious. I flicked my gaze up to him challengingly.

"What exactly do you want me to do with this thing anyway? I'm here with your magician buddy, and even he won't tell me anything!" I blurted out, my stress overpowering me. Doctor Strange snapped his mouth shut and I noticed a twinkle of mixed emotions in his eyes.

"Right now…nothing. But when the time comes – and it will come sooner than you think – you must do everything you can to protect it." He cautioned. I stared at him in worried disbelief.

"Okay…" I looked around at the empty room surrounding me. "So…if you're here right now, why can't you come back 'when the time comes' and take care of it yourself?"

"I'm not really here right now." Strange said, confirming my feeling of dread. "This is just my astral form."

"Right. Okay." I said, pocketing the necklace and propping my elbow up on the table to face him sarcastically. "Then where is the _real_ you right now?"

"At the moment…I'm being held prisoner on an alien spaceship about to be tortured into giving up the Stone." He said casually. My eyes widened slightly and I reached back for my pocket.

"The…the Stone that I have…" I commented slowly. He nodded.

"And that's precisely the reason I gave it to you. So that, given any form of circumstances and/or torture, I would have no means to give it up."

"Oh." I said thoughtfully, suddenly realizing the stakes that now rested on my shoulders. Doctor Strange stood up from the chair and patted me on the shoulder.

"I've gotta go now, Alexander…" He said quietly, looking around at something that I couldn't see.

"How am I going to protect this Stone? Can't you teach me some magic or something really quick to help me out?" I asked, my mind in panic mode once more. Strange moved away from me quickly, not meeting my gaze.

"Wong will teach you what you need to know, just listen and open your mind." His voice was just a distant echo and when I blinked next, he was gone.

* * *

"Alex? Alex!"

I picked my head up from where it had fallen to the tabletop, a small puddle of drool by my cheek.

"He lives!" I heard Dan's voice from behind me. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me into an upright position and I groaned as I wiped my face.

"First astral trips are often a little unsettling." Wong's voice said from the corner of the room by the steaming tea kettle. I looked back at him and he nodded reassuringly towards my cup where it had been knocked over on the tabletop. I was relieved the find that the large puddle of liquid that had been pooling by my face hadn't actually been my saliva, but just lukewarm tea.

"You were _out,_ man!" Dan said, smacking my shoulder again in an attempt to get me talking.

"Did you just drug me? With tea?" I asked, staring suspiciously up at Wong.

"There was nothing in the tea except tea. Did you find out what you needed to know?" Wong asked seriously, sipping at his own un-drugged tea. I made myself nod shakily as I righted the overturned cup by my hand.

"Yeah…I guess so. But right now, I just want to lie down again."

"Very well. I'll show you boys to your rooms, then." Wong said solemnly, setting his cup down to lead us out of the room, Dan clinging to my elbow to help me stand on my shaky two feet. I was _so_ not looking forward to meeting Doctor Strange like that again.


	3. Late Night Illusions

_"Wong will teach you what you need to know…just listen…and open your mind…" _

I stared up at the dark ceiling above my bed, the encounter with Doctor Strange running through my anxious mind. Less than eight hours before, he had handed me the Stone that now rested on my chest. The warmth of the thing surprised me, like it was a living thing, charged and waiting to be used. I clutched the necklace in my fist, feeling the heat spread quickly through my hand.

"Was it a mistake?" I muttered to myself in the dark room, the silence finally too stifling for me. "Maybe I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time…"

Then I recalled Strange's serious expression as he had spoken to me in the weird dream I had witnessed. He seemed pretty confident that I would be able to keep his stone safe from whatever those aliens wanted it for…

"He's like one of the smartest guys ever so…this _has_ to be the right thing to do… right?" I asked myself. I scoffed at my quiet and shaky voice and laughed at the dark ceiling after a moment. "Everything's gonna be _fine_…"

There was a knock at my door suddenly, and I clamped my mouth shut quickly, knowing that, even though I was quiet, my voice had very probably carried outside my room.

"Mr. Alexander? Are you ready for a bit of training?" Wong's voice called quietly from the other side of the door. I sat up slowly in confusion and then glanced to my phone where it rested on the small nightstand by the bed charging. It wasn't even one in the morning yet…

"Uh…training this early?" I called back hesitantly. There was a pause from the other side of the door and then I heard Wong shuffling his feet on the wood floor in the hallway.

"I sensed that you couldn't sleep so I figured a small bit of mental exercise might help." He said simply. Surprised that Wong had a 'sense' for things like that, I slowly kicked the blanket off of myself and slipped on my t-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes before moving over to the door and opening it. As I did so, my breath hitched in my throat and I looked out to an empty hallway.

I quickly raised my hand to the necklace that still rested underneath my shirt. My eyes flicked back and forth down either side of the hallway as I scanned suspiciously for Wong. The artifact- filled glass cases lining the hallway stood silent and shadow-like in the dark and I felt myself back hesitantly into my room, inching the door closed. That's when I noticed a soft swishing sound emanating from behind me and a faint glow of warm light. Without looking behind me, I threw the door open and bolted down the hallway, careful not to bump into any of the cases as I hurried as far away from my room as possible.

_"Wong!"_ I called desperately, letting my adrenaline carry me further and further down the seemingly endless hallway. _"Wong, help!"_

I nearly stumbled off balance when explosions of shattering glass sounded from behind me. I whirled around to see that case after case exploded outward, one after the other, making its way to where I stood in a frozen panic.

A faint golden spark of light blinked into existence in the midst of the glass-filled hallway and I hurriedly ducked down the nearest doorway to avoid being seen. I found myself in the kitchen from before, the floating flame from the corner stovetop still flickering quietly. I glanced briefly over my shoulder before rushing past the dining table and towards a small cabinet door by the fridge, the urge to hide the quickest thought that popped into my head. I reached the cabinet and yanked on the doorknob, but it refused to move. Panicking even further, (if that were even possible), I twisted the doorknob in every direction it could go, finally stumbling back as it broke off in my palm. I felt sweat drip down my forehead as I looked around for any other means of escape, hearing a quiet thump from the fridge a few feet away. I involuntarily dropped the doorknob from my hand, the brass clattering on the wood floor dully; a signal to whatever was after me an exact location of where I was.

I dove for the fridge as the swishing sound emanated from the doorway I had just rushed through. My hand latched onto the handle and I prepared to jerk the fridge door open but I hesitated as I felt a hand clap firmly down on my shoulder, yanking me backward.

_"What did I tell you?!" _

I fumbled quickly for a response as I turned and faced Wong, who stood over me, his hand still squeezing my shoulder tightly. The kitchen faded into a warm glow of light from the ceiling light fixture and I blinked several times before responding to his demanding question.

"Um…don't touch anything?" I guessed, my voice breathless as my adrenaline dissipated and my heart attempted to slow to its normal rate. Wong's expression was a mask as he released his grip on my shoulder. He took my wrist and yanked my hand away from where it was still frozen and latched onto the door handle of the fridge.

"Especially the refrigerator door." He ordered. I looked from Wong to the fridge where another thump sounded from inside of it. I looked back to him and edged away from the fridge hesitantly.

"Is…is this a joke or…?"

"If you think unleashing Hell on earth by opening that refrigerator door is a joke." Wong said serenely.

"…Point taken." I said softly. Wong nodded and led me away from the demon-filled fridge and past the dining room table to the hallway. Expecting to see the cabinets overturned and shattered glass littering the shiny wooden floors, I was surprised to see that everything was still in order as it was when Dan and I had walked down it earlier that afternoon.

"As you can see, that was just an illusion I conjured up to get you on your toes." Wong explained casually, noticing my flabbergasted expression at the tidy hallway. I nodded slowly, still amazed at how he had fooled me so easily into thinking that I was about to die.

"And my freaking out didn't wake up Dan? Was that part of the illusion too?" I asked as we passed by Dan's room, his door still shut tightly from when we had parted ways hours before to call it a night. Wong nodded silently, still leading me down the hallway past the still-intact glass artifact cases.

"Would you like a small lesson in creating illusions?" Wong offered casually, opening a door into a wide room that appeared to be empty of all furniture. I shrugged nonchalantly, trying to hide my overexcitement at being taught some real magic.

"Um…yeah…I mean…yes, if you wanna show me something." I said quickly. Wong smirked as he shut the door behind us and led me to the center of the room, lit by the dim light in the ceiling.

"Firstly, you must visualize what it is you would like to see." Wong explained, taking only a brief moment to think something up. He then swept his right arm in an effortless flowy motion and the room was suddenly lined with chairs and couches, a huge ping-pong table in the center of it.

"Wow…" I said in amazement, as I walked over to the table and reached for the ping-pong paddle that rested on the end of the table. As I did so, the table wavered and my hand fell through it. The vision flickered for a blinking second and then appeared as solid as it had the first time. I turned back to Wong, who still held his hand out in front of him, an expectant look on his face.

"Looks real, doesn't it?" He said.

"That's so cool…" I said, causing him to smirk smugly. He released his flexed hand and the vision faded away as quickly as it had appeared. I stared at the spot in awe for a moment before looking down at my own hands.

"Yes, you could even do a simple trick such as that." Wong said, clearly not having to try hard to read my thoughts.

"That's all you have to do? Visualize it and wave your hand around dramatically?" I asked in hopeful disbelief. Wong smirked again to himself and shook his head slowly.

"There is a little more to it than that, I'm afraid. But that's the gist of it, yes." He placed a hand on each of my shoulders. "There is a generous amount of practice and meditation involved before you can reach the point of performing stable illusions, but I feel that it would be a wise first step in your training."

"My training?" I repeated thoughtfully. I placed my hand over the necklace beneath my t-shirt. Wong took notice of my gesture and removed his hands from my shoulders to step in front of me.

"We must protect the Time Stone at all costs. If Strange thinks that you are the one to provide the last line of defense for it, then we must have you ready as soon as possible to face Thanos and his minions. They will not be fooling around the next time they attempt to take it." Wong said seriously.

"Alright, then show me what I need to do first." I said sternly, taking my hand away from the necklace and squeezing both of them into fists by my side. Wong eyed me steadily for a moment and moved his hands in front of his chest methodically. He then circled over his head as the room around us shimmered with flickers of light.

"The Mirror Dimension. It's a safe place to practice magical skills without harming reality." Wong explained. I shook myself out of my awe, the warmth of the Time Stone jolting me into remembering how real this situation was going to be and how much I really needed to learn _fast._

"I'm ready." I said. Wong smirked halfheartedly and then pressed his hands tightly together in front of him, indicating for me to imitate him.

"Let's hope so."


	4. Conflict Between Friends

Around four in the morning I shuffled back down the hallway and towards a large staircase, careful to stay as far away from the walls and cabinets as possible. My eyes burned from lack of sleep, my muscles hurt from being strained repeatedly and I dreaded having to go upstairs to the library and spend the next while reading as Wong had instructed. Though my first official training hadn't gone as successfully as I'd hoped, I was eager to try again until I was at least _near_ Wong's magical level of expertise if I had any chance of protecting the Time Stone around my neck.

"Alex, is that you?" A voice hissed from the other side of the door I was just passing by. My feet dragged themselves to a stop, and I cleared my throat before responding.

"Yeah."

The doorknob twisted slowly and Dan's pale, tired face emerged from the cracked doorway. He took in my disheveled appearance for a moment before scrunching his face up in confusion.

"What happened to you? Not sleep well?" He asked thumbing over his shoulder. "Because my room is amazing, I went right to sleep. It's like staying in a castle or something in this place! Minus the hole in the roof out there." Dan rambled excitedly, despite having just been disturbed from his sleep by my walking down the hall.

"Well, I didn't really get to sleep at all…" I started, scratching the back of my head. "So Wong decided to take the time to train me a little bit."

"Awesome!" Dan said with a lazy grin. "When do I get a turn?"

"Um…I don't know." I said honestly, looking down the hall toward my room longingly. "But he told me I needed to read up on ways to help me concentrate and I'm on my way to the library upstairs now. He's already laid out some books for me to read. How he managed to do that without even leaving the room, I'll never know. Well, I mean, I guess he'll teach me that kinda stuff eventually but, you know."

I rolled my eyes and stifled a yawn as I shuffled nervously, edging away from Dan's door. The sooner I got to the library and skimmed over the scrolls and books that Wong ordered me to read, the sooner I might be able to get some rest.

"You're not going to tell me how your training went? Can you do the…?" Dan waved his hands in spastic motions in front of him. My shoulders already slumped from exhaustion, I shook my head dejectedly. Dan raised his eyebrows and straightened himself awkwardly.

"No…I don't really feel like I accomplished much." I said, my tired voice coming out like a sigh. "He tried to teach me some illusions, but all I managed to create was a ping-pong ball."

"A ping-pong ball?" Dan asked laughingly.

"You would've had to be there. Wong conjured up the table and paddles first and the next thing I thought about was the ball. So after about thirty minutes, I finally 'conjured' up a ball. And by that, I mean it blinked into existence for all of ten seconds before disappearing in a puff of smoke." I rolled my eyes. Dan nodded and gave me what I'm sure he thought was a supportive smirk.

"That's okay. Surely the aliens will give us all a little time to prepare before coming back to attack the city again." He shrugged, his nonchalance dripping with sarcasm. He opened his bedroom door wider and stepped out into the hallway to place a hand on my shoulder. "Maybe I'll have a little more luck with _my_ training."

"Wong didn't say that he was gonna…"

Dan was already walking past me and down the hallway where I had come, and, knowing that he wouldn't listen to me, I decided to save my weary voice. I rolled my eyes in his direction and turned back to head down the hall past my door and finally towards the stairs that would lead me to the library.

* * *

The room was small for a library, sure, but too large to be considered a sitting room by any means. I took a moment to take in the hundreds, no thousands of books that neatly lined the shelves adjourning the walls of the room. I left the wooden door open a crack behind me, the room bathed in a warm glow of light from the decorative wall lamps in between shelves randomly. I rounded one shelf that jutted out in an 'L' shape from the wall, and found what looked to be where Doctor Strange spent a lot of his time pouring over his reading material. Two chairs sat facing each other with a small side table between them. Stacked neatly on the tabletop were about a dozen books, and at least as many ancient-looking scrolls. The leftover space on the table was taken up by a tiny tea-tray with a steaming cup of what I assumed was some of the same tea Wong had 'not' drugged me with along with a tiny plate with a powdered homemade doughnut sugar bowl. The tiniest little spoon rested in the sugar bowl and I picked it up and scooped three huge spoonfuls of sugar into the teacup as I collapsed into the nearest armchair with a weary huff.

I reached to my left and grabbed the first book off the top of the stack, shaking my head in awed disbelief at the dozens of pages that were marked with brightly colored sticky notes covered with Wong's scribblings.

"How the hell did you have the time to do all of this?" I muttered, taking a quick peek at the other stacked books. Just as I'd suspected, they each had their share of sticky notes poking out from between the pages. I shook my head again and flipped the book in my lap to its first sticky note and took the cup of hot tea in my hand as I stifled yet another yawn.

I was nearly an hour and a half into my reading and halfway through the stack of books Wong had assigned to me when I started to nod off to sleep.

* * *

The first dream I found myself in was fast paced, with people running hurriedly past me, as if something was chasing them. I squinted through random bursts of colorful light, even raising my hand up to shield my eyes for a better view.

A large, muscular figure strode smugly after the retreating figures, shadowed from a bright light that shone from behind it. I took the battle-ready stance that Wong had persisted to teach me to fall into when faced with any threat. If anything from my few hours of training this morning had stuck with me, it was that my muscles quickly adapted to that position.

Clenching my fists in front of my chest and willing the golden glow that Wong and Strange had been able to so easily conjure, I forced myself to stay grounded to whatever or whoever was approaching. Not to my surprise, there was no shimmering glow around my hands, but nevertheless I shakily made myself stand motionless.

"You're not ready…"

I slowly turned to see that Doctor Strange had moved to my side, his fists glowing with that unwavering golden glow. I noticed that my upraised arms shook with the strained muscles I was forcing through my shoulders and forearms.

"I'm…I'm _trying_…" I insisted through gritted teeth. The man slowly shook his head, a pained expression on his gaunt face. He gestured toward the steadily approaching figure ahead of us.

"And I'm telling you, there's no time for _trying._ You need to _act_."

"To be fair…I just had my first lesson from Wong like…an hour ago, so…" I said, my voice cracking under the stress. Doctor Strange continued to shake his head and he motioned with his fists and the golden mandalas began to spin dizzyingly. He turned to me and tossed one to me, and I jerked forward to catch it.

_"Will it to stay solid, Alexander!"_ Strange called quickly as the mandala spun in midair like a disc towards my outstretched arms. I was suddenly blinded by the colorful flash of colors and the mandala sizzled out of existence as it touched my fingers in sparks of golden light. The ground rumbled beneath my feet and I hurriedly glanced up to see that Strange was gone. With another flash of colors, I was blown off my feet.

* * *

"Dude, it's just a dream! Just a dream, man!"

I reflexively grabbed the nearest thing to me which happened to be the open book still in my lap. I hastily threw my makeshift weapon at what I thought was the threat, my mind foggy from the unexpected nap I had taken in the middle of my reading.

"Woah man, it's me! It's Daniel!"

I forced myself out of the adrenaline caused by my very realistic nightmare to focus on Dan who stood by the door clutching the book I had thrown at his face. Feeling a cold sweat soaking through my t-shirt and my heart racing, I slumped back against the cushiony back of the chair behind me.

"Dan…" I gasped, running over my forehead where my hair was stuck to it with sweat. "I need to train some more. _A lot more_."

"Yeah, that's what Wong said too." Dan said slowly. He gently tossed the book back to me and sat in the other chair across from me with a dejected sigh. I glanced at him quizzically.

"Did your lesson not go very well either?" I asked hopefully after a moment. Dan shook his head and shrugged.

"I don't think I'd call it a lesson, really. Wong just explained the possible scenarios that we might be facing in the near future and that unless you get your act together, how they'll all lead to our certain deaths. And seeing as how you've been _sleeping_ instead of reading up on this stuff like you're supposed to be doing…" He said bitterly. He flashed a look at me and I knew right then what his problem was. He was jealous.

I frowned at my friend deeply, once more catching myself with my hand over the necklace resting on my chest. I stood up hastily and walked to the door, Dan's challenging eyes following me the entire time.

"What did I say?" He asked innocently, picking up a sticky-note marked book and opening it casually. I hesitated in the doorway before I glanced back at him with a guarded look, his jealousy only slightly masked by a look of fake apology.

"You know…I didn't ask for this. At any time, I'm completely willing to hand this over to you and have _you_ try and figure out a way to protect it." I said sharply. I left the room with Dan still sitting in the armchair, a scowl on his face as he forced his gaze into the open book in his lap.

* * *

My mind was both equal parts anger and desperation as I burst into the wide training room where I knew Wong would still be waiting. As I felt the door slowly swing closed behind me, I shook my head to focus on the empty room before me. Scanning the few shelves and furniture pushed against the walls, I squinted through the wide empty space in the center of the room.

"…Wong? Are you there?" I asked after a moment, feeling slightly stupid talking to thin air. When there was no response, I cleared my throat and raised my hands to the space in front of me, unsure of what exactly I was planning to do. I flexed my fingers outward toward the space in my own rendition of one of the Mirror Dimension summoning ways I had read about before I had dozed off. I slowly turned my wrist and felt a bead of sweat slide annoyingly down my temple.

"Alexander. What are you doing back so soon? It hasn't even been two hours, hardly enough time to tackle your reading."

I froze where I was, my frustrated concentration suddenly broken by Wong's voice over my shoulder. I glanced back and could see that the man had a steaming coffee cup in his hand, along with a half-eaten Pop-Tart that he was chewing amusedly as he waited for my answer.

"I…well I thought you were…there…" I stammered, pointing to the empty space in the middle of the room. Wong's eyes twinkled with humor and he shook his head as he took another bite from his breakfast pastry.

"I never leave the Mirror Dimension open to trainees. Too risky."

"I thought you said that the Mirror Dimension was a place that wouldn't affect the regular world?"

"True, I did say that. But in the off-chance that the person entering it was in fact, _not_ one of the trainees, it's wise to shut it down when not in use." Wong explained as he finished his Pop-Tart. "What are you doing back so soon? I thought I told you read up on beginning techniques until you felt that you could concentrate better."

"That's just it…I kinda had this dream where Doctor Strange told me I needed to keep at it. No time for trying, I need to be perfect _now._" I insisted. Wong's expression was suddenly hard again and he brushed down the front of his robes to get rid of the Pop-Tart crumbs. He set his half-empty coffee cup down on a table by the wall and moved to my side.

"Fair enough. Let's do this then. And no complaining this time about the difficulty."

The room shimmered around us with Wong's quick hand gesture and I followed him through into the Mirror Dimension, looking around at the distracting shimmer that the room now had.

Wong stopped in front of me and whirled around, startling me so much that I nearly fell off balance. I caught myself quickly and fell into my defense-ready pose with my fists raised up front of my chest and towards Wong where he waited patiently. His face was a mask of concentration induced hardness and with a precise movement of his fists, the familiar defensive golden mandalas flashed into appearance over his arms like shields. I took a second to glance down at my own fists, forcing them not to shake with my nerves.

"Will them into existence, Alex." Wong muttered simply, as he watched me. I stiffened involuntarily and clenched my fists even tighter as I flicked my hands just as Wong had done. Gritting my teeth I tried once more, my arms getting tighter and tighter with each attempt.

"Come on…" I hissed under my breath, trying to center myself and visualize the golden glow over my own fists. After a moment, Wong dissolved his own mandalas and gripped my arm to turn it the way that it should go.

"It's not about physical strength. There's no need to strain yourself." Wong said in as gentle of a voice he could muster. I looked up at him hesitantly and forced myself to relax, letting out the breath that had built up in my chest with my frustration. Wong released his grip on my arm and stepped back once more, and flicked his hands forward quickly, calling the golden shields into existence.

I took a deep breath and made my body go still, no tight arm muscles, just my fists hovering in the air about a foot out in front of me. I felt the warmth of the Time Stone resting against my chest underneath my shirt and clenched my jaw worriedly as I thought about how the thing seemed to be relying on me to protect it. I raised my gaze up to Wong who was watching my fists guardedly. I listened to my breath as I inhaled and exhaled slowly, and then I flicked my hands quickly with the copied precision that I had just witnessed Wong perform. As soon as I did so, Wong's mask of hardened composure was replaced by a look of disbelief before quickly returning to his usual stiffness.

"Well done." He said simply. I chanced a glance away from his face and my heart skipped a beat as I noticed the considerably brighter glow of gold emanating from in front of us both.

"Oh…Oh my God, I did it!" I said breathlessly. The mandalas shielding my fists flickered briefly and I quickly had to center myself, staring intensely at the magical discs I had somehow managed to conjure. "I actually did it!"

Wong couldn't hide his amused smirk as I lifted my right fist and twisted it back and forth to watch how the mandala turned along with my own movements. After a moment, Wong dissolved his own shields and conjured up another glowing object, this one looking oddly like a large machete. My eyes widened and my excited grin melted in surprise as he lunged forward with an excited twinkle in his eyes.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, taken completely off-guard. I gasped as the golden machete phased right through the edge of my right shield and I backed away quickly before Wong pulled back for another strike.

"They look nice, but are they effective?" Wong called, moving quickly to land his next blow. I crouched to my knees and held my fists over my head.

"Stay solid, stay solid, _stay solid!"_ I squeaked through gritted teeth, bracing myself. In front of me, I saw Wong's feet leave the ground and milliseconds later I was knocked further onto my shins by the strong impact above me. I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt yet another blow hit above me and I chanced a quick glance at my crossed wrists shaking over my head.

The two mandalas that had appeared over each of my fists had merged to form one giant golden shield, seemingly impenetrable to Wong's frantic attacks. After a moment Wong stepped back, but I stayed where I was on the floor, crouched underneath my magical shield in case he decided to take me off-guard again.

"You can get up now Alex." He said breathlessly after a few seconds. I hesitantly climbed to my feet, separating my wrists from each other and watching as the giant mandala split into two once more. Wong no longer held his glowing machete, but he now wore an impressed smirk on his face. He stepped toward me, his eyes narrowed with thought.

"Did…did I do it right?" I asked, staring down at my still-glowing shields.

"Remarkably. I honestly didn't think you would get this far so quickly. But, the situation does however call for fast and desperate measures, so I suppose it's no surprise that Strange is pushing you so." He said. I nodded knowingly, my small victory over managing to conjure the first spell now feeling even smaller compared to what more was expected of me. I looked down at the golden shields and shook them slightly, trying to get them to phase out as easily as Wong's had. Finally I looked up to meet Wong's even more amused expression.

"How do you get these to switch off?" I asked dumbly, with a frustrated smile. Wong merely held his hand up in front of himself and flexed his fingers outward from his fist. Feeling heat flooding through my face, I copied his movement and slowly opened both of my fists. The golden glow vanished, and I was left standing in the center of the room in the mirror dimension, Wong silently laughing at me.

"Now that we have the most basic defensive technique down, what do you say we more on to some offensive spells?" Wong said, suddenly back in teacher mode. I shook my arms to loosen up and, adrenaline flooding through me, I nodded excitedly.

"On one condition…I want to learn how to conjure up a glowing machete too."


	5. Playing with Magic

Another few hours later, Wong led me out of the Mirror Dimension and towards the kitchen where Dan waited at the breakfast table, eating from a box of cereal and drinking a glass of what looked like apple juice. As we entered the room, he flashed me a narrowed look before he waved casually and pointed to the fridge.

"So…um…I didn't want to open the fridge because as soon as I touched the handle the whole thing started banging from the inside…I didn't know if you knew about that or not…" Dan said slowly, eyes wide as he explained what must have been a pretty amusing thing that I wish I had seen. "Do you have any milk by any chance? This cereal is kinda dry…"

Wong eyed the fridge behind him curiously and then moved to the corner of the room to a small cupboard imbedded in the wall. When he opened the small door, it looked just the way a small mini-fridge should look like. He retrieved a nearly-full gallon of milk from inside it and walked over to set it on the table for Dan who blinked in surprise at the hidden fridge.

"Thanks. _Of course_ the fridge would actually be disguised as a cupboard. Not much else in this house makes sense." He said under his breath. I glanced to Wong who had closed the secret mini-fridge's door and opened another cabinet door to reveal a large fruit basket. He turned and brought the colorful assortment to the table and gestured at it for us to dig in.

"Strange visited a small town near the Everglades this weekend and returned with this as a gift from the people for vanquishing the demon that had been terrorizing them for several years." Wong explained lightly. I stared at him in dumbstruck silence for a moment before backing away from the bowl skeptically.

"That sounds kinda neat…how did he do that?" Dan asked, suddenly interested. He grabbed an oddly-shaped pinkish fruit from the basket and studied it carefully before tearing into it with a small knife that Wong supplied him with.

"Just knowing the process by which he was able to do it would send your mind into a state of such terror that I dare not reveal it to you." Wong said seriously. I eyed him warily and caught Dan doing the same. He looked at me and then frowned slightly before he glanced back up at Wong who had selected an unnaturally large kiwi to cut with another tiny kitchen knife.

"Are you for real?" Dan asked. Wong didn't look away from slicing into his huge kiwi before responding.

"No, I just don't want to confuse you any more than I have to." He admitted lightly, not even cracking a smile.

I scoffed and glanced at a small clock on the wall, noticing that it was already almost eight in the morning. I raised an eyebrow at the lack of sleep I'd had, but the absence of exhaustion I possessed. I figured the excitement and nervousness of learning magical spells and whatnot was responsible for my wide awake mind.

"I think I'm gonna shower off for a few before I eat, if that's okay." I said quickly, suddenly feeling a little grungy from my majority of the morning's training. Wong nodded and then gestured to where the Time Stone still rested hidden underneath my shirt.

"Make sure that never leaves your sight." He warned seriously, pointing with his mini knife in my direction. I lay my hand over the necklace and nodded with an equally serious expression on my face.

"It won't. I promise."

* * *

Several minutes later, I had finally managed to shower while keeping the Time Stone within my sight on the bathroom counter the whole time. Feeling a lot more like myself, I stepped back into my clothes and slipped the necklace back on over my head. I stopped in front of the mirror on my way out of the room and just to prove that I could, I quickly centered myself and tapped my left wrist before forcing my right hand into a defensive fist. The now-familiar golden glow flashed into view, the large mandala nearly knocking over the small towel rack that stood on the countertop.

"Woah!" I exclaimed as I reached out with my non-shielded hand to catch the miniature bronze towel rack before it could topple off the counter to the floor. I steadied the object and then stepped back a few more inches before willing the mandala away. A cocky smile forming on my face, I then decided to try another tactic Wong had taught me.

I reached forward and switched on the water faucet to a small barely – audible flow of water. I glanced at the door to my right before I carefully held out my hand and gestured lightly for the liquid to come towards me. Figuring that it would be a little harder than the small stationary books Wong had made me practice with in my training, I was almost sure I wouldn't be able to get the water to do what I wanted.

"Make myself one with the object." I murmured, repeating what Wong had taught me a few hours ago. "Or in this case…is it _objects_? Water is more than just one definite thing right? Or am I thinking too small like molecules or something?"

I stared carefully at the steady stream of cool water flowing from the bronze faucet, my hand still waiting eagerly about a foot away from it. I was almost ready to call it quits when I suddenly felt a few drops hit my outstretched palm. I blinked quickly and forced myself to study the motion of the water more intensely and my heartbeat started to quicken excitedly as I felt more and more drops hit my palm. Seconds later the small stream of water slowly seemed to move from its direction of flowing downward to flowing sideways into my palm.

_"Yes!"_ I said eagerly, watching the liquid splash against my palm, scattering drops of water all over the countertop of the sink. I then flexed my fingers even further and the water splashing against my palm ceased, forming into a small, swirling bubble of liquid hovering above my palm like a globe. Excitement overwhelming me, I quickly opened the door and, careful not to take my eyes off of the softball-sized water sphere, I rushed down the hallway toward the kitchen.

"…and there were these two girls on the bus, Jillian and…um…well I didn't get her name guessed right before the whole spaceship incident went down, but I just wanted to, you know…see if they were alright…" Dan was saying to Wong as I slid into the kitchen.

"You guys, look at this!" I said, unable to contain the shrill excitement that my voice held as I watched the water globe slowly spinning in my hands. Wong and Dan both turned to look in my direction, Dan's face lighting up in awe and Wong's expression turning into slightly-impressed amusement.

"Cool!" Dan said, getting up from his place at the table and shuffling over to me to get a better look. He raised his hand to my water globe like he was going to poke it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Wong called lightly, as he cut into yet another huge kiwi. The peels of three other ones lay in a dish on the table in front of him, signaling how many he had already eaten.

"Why not?" I asked him confusedly. I gestured with my shoulders to where I still had perfect control of the bubble hovering over my palms. "I've got it."

"Natural Elements usually tend to be most times unpredictable to control." Wong said, back to his mysterious and puzzling way of speaking. Dan, who had hesitated long enough for Wong to give his warning, turned back to stare at the large bubble of water again.

"How did you do that, man? I thought you said you weren't having any luck so far!" He said, hovering his hands an inch or so around the water. I smirked to Wong who was watching us with his arms crossed, his face a mask with amusement hiding underneath.

"Wong's taught me a few little tricks so far." I said. I took one of my hands out from underneath the water globe, the surface of it rippling from the change in balance. I watched it carefully, afraid that it would fall and spill everywhere. When it didn't, I flicked my free hand along the ball's surface, watching as the liquid erupted into mini waves. Dan laughed in disbelief, whirling around to face Wong.

"You have to show me how to do that! That's unbelievable! Look!" He turned back over his shoulder and, his excitement getting the better of him, he plunged his pointer finger straight into the bubble. My concentration seemed to stay strong enough but the water didn't. Just as I feared, as soon as Dan's hand broke the surface, the liquid ball instantly shattered, sending water splashing through my palms and down the front of both of our t-shirts. I instinctively flinched and my golden mandalas materialized. Dan's face was a mixture of shock and guilt as he slowly blinked away from the golden shields and to Wong who still stood facing us, his arms still crossed. I disbanded my mandalas and cleared my throat good-naturedly to speak up.

"I'll uh…go get the mop then, huh?"


	6. Visitors

Once we'd gotten the kitchen floor cleaned up and the bathroom counter and floor mopped and dry, we finally got to sit down to a light breakfast of fruit and cereal. There was hardly any conversation between the three of us, save for the remarks Dan kept making about worrying over the other kids from our bus and the people that had been near the worst of the fight with the heroes and the two aliens.

"I'm just asking…don't you have a television or something here so that we can check the news? I mean, hopefully there weren't any casualties from the fight yesterday afternoon, but our bus _was_ stopped pretty close to the block where the aliens came down…" Dan said. "I just hope those girls are okay…"

"Dan…man, you know they were only paying any attention to us because they'd been on the bus for over an hour already and were bored out of their minds." I said as lightly as I could. He gave me another of his brief, odd looks that I had finally determined had to be either his jealousy or guarded worry.

"So is that supposed to make me not care about what happened to them? They ran off the bus, same as we did!" He protested. Wong glanced between us before setting his fresh coffee cup down with a sigh.

"I can assure you that no one in the city was killed during the confrontation yesterday." Wong said softly. "But I'm sure that the property damages and injuries will definitely be a mess to clean up."

Dan was silent for a moment and when I finally looked his way again, I noticed that his gaze had rested on my chest where the Time Stone hung outside of my shirt on my chest. I coughed lightly and self-consciously fidgeted with it.

"So what's the plan for today? More training, I'm guessing?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Dan's eyes went up to my face and narrowed with what I read as light hatred…something I hadn't noticed in him before. I cleared my throat again quickly. "And maybe Dan can help us out this time."

Wong looked steadily between the both of us, clearly reading the tension in our body language and possibly something more. He nodded curtly and picked up his coffee cup again.

"Very well, if Mr. Yates wishes to join us, I'm sure we could teach him a few things. It wouldn't hurt to have a little bit of extra defense when we are attacked again." Wong said casually. Dan's expression lifted only slightly as he managed a small excited smirk at Wong.

"Sounds cool." He said, directing his attention back down to his half-eaten bowl of cereal. I sensed that he was internally dancing with excitement, but for some reason he was still angry and refused to show his glee in front of me. I offered a small supportive smile his way which he glanced at but didn't return. Wong suddenly stood up, staring past us and seemingly through the wall.

"What? What's happening?" I asked quickly, on high alert just seeing Wong's reaction. Dan watched the magician's tense expression too, even finally looking to me worriedly before he slowly stood up behind Wong.

"We have a visitor." Wong said simply, his voice low. I stood and moved to follow him, flicking my wrists and feeling the golden mandalas materialize over my fists. Wong raised a hand to stop me and then he seemed to glide out of the room. I stayed frozen by the table, listening to the echoing sounds of Wong's soft footsteps down the hall outside the kitchen.

"What should we do?" Dan spoke up, having moved to my side nervously. I looked back up to him, my heart already pumping with anticipation. I dissolved my right golden shield and quickly gestured for him to copy my movement as I willed it back to existence again.

"We need to get ready to defend ourselves if it's necessary. You need to calm your mind and…" I flicked my wrist once more flashing the glowing mandala into and out of existence. He watched me a few more times and then with one simple fist motion he conjured up a blindingly bright golden mandala shield. My eyes widened and he smirked cockily at me.

"Is that all?" He asked, copying the motion with his other hand, now possessing two shields which he brought up in front of himself in a battle ready pose. I blinked and nodded curtly, turning back to the doorway where Wong had disappeared just a few moments ago.

"Wow…we really _do_ need to teach you some stuff. You learned that trick a _whole_ lot faster than I did…" I grumbled, watching the doorway and listening carefully for any sounds that might signal an attack. A moment later, Wong emerged from down the hall with a short, shabbily-dressed figure trailing behind him. Grey speckled his dark hair and he looked like he hadn't shaved for a good while. Bruce Banner.

"It's alright, he's a friend." Wong said curtly, nodding for the person to enter the room behind him. Wong regarded Dan with intrigue at his quick accumulation of learning the shield conjuring process. "Bruce Banner, this is Alexander and Daniel."

"Hi," The scientist said nervously, stopping beside Wong who gestured for us both to relax and let our shields and guards down. Banner looked from both of us to Wong who nodded as the bright golden glows faded from view. "Aren't they a little young to be sorcerers-in-training?"

"Hey…" Dan said quietly, jokingly taking offense.

"Strange didn't leave us a choice." Wong grumbled lightly. Bruce looked back to us in confusion until Wong walked over to stand beside me. "He chose this boy here to possibly save the world."

"What…what do you mean?" Bruce asked, his eyebrows etched in deep thought. I looked up at Wong to make sure it was alright before I slowly reached for the chain around my neck and pulled the Time Stone up from underneath my shirt and into view. Banner's face was instantly thrown into silent panic.

"We're taking very quick precautions against The Black Order's return. Alexander has already made waves in his training, while Daniel has just proven that he may have useful learning talent as well." Wong said before Bruce could speak. The scientist put a hand to his forehead worriedly and wrapped his other arm around his middle.

"Y-you tricked them into thinking that the Time Stone was taken off-world…" He stammered.

"Doctor Strange did." I spoke up matter-of-factly. Bruce glanced down at me quickly before raising an accusatory look back to Wong.

_"A kid?" _

"We've been told it'll be good camouflage." Dan added smartly. Bruce raised his eyebrows in even further disbelieve.

"Does Cap know about this yet?" He asked hurriedly. Wong hesitated for a moment before shaking his head in reply.

"Cap? Captain America?" I asked in disbelief. Bruce made another worried noise and shuffled nervously on his feet, wringing his hands uncontrollably. Dan and I exchanged glances, afraid in knowing that whenever Bruce Banner's control got out of hand, the Hulk made his appearance.

"I assume he is on his way?" Wong commented lightly, seemingly not afraid of the nervous wreck of a man pacing in front of us. Bruce stopped and shoved his hand in his pocket, pulling out a small flip-phone which he clicked open and closed a few times before replacing it.

"Y-yeah. They're still a few hours out but…what am I gonna tell him?" Bruce asked and thumbed over his shoulder. "Rhodey's outside…he's already alerting the government and everything about what's going on. We're trying to pin down the location of Vision and his Stone…Cap's gonna meet us at headquarters and then we'll debate about what to do next."

"Wait there are _more_ Stones?" Dan asked in confusion. Bruce raised his eyebrows in even further acknowledgement of disbelief and shook his head at Wong.

"Strange is really relying on these _kids_ to keep one of the Infinity Stones safe? Do they even know anything about what's going on here?"

"I've…I've already had this argument with him…" I said, suddenly feeling completely and utterly unqualified, especially with one of the smartest scientists on Earth standing in front of us.

"Wong…come work with us. If we still have two Stones here on Earth…let us at least keep them together so we can be absolutely sure they're protected." Bruce said, his voice gentler.

I looked at Wong expectantly, hardly believing that a real-life Avenger was standing in front of us, asking us to work with them. Dan still eyed Dr. Banner warily, expecting him to turn into the big, rage-filled Hulk at any second. After a thoughtful moment, Wong finally spoke up.

"I think it would be wise to have more protection for the Time Stone, yes." Wong said slowly. He glanced down to me where I had instinctively wrapped my fingers tightly around the necklace. "But leaving the Sanctum and the hundreds of protections and spells shielding this place from hostiles would also be a poor choice."

I looked up at Wong in shock and shook my head as my face contorted with awe at his decision. Dan stepped back as I turned to hastily face the magician defiantly.

"Wong, _no…_you said it…we need as much protection for the Stone as we can get…why can't we work with the Avengers?" I demanded. Wong looked thoughtful for another few seconds, his eyes trained into the distance as if he were listening to something.

"Alex…maybe he's got a good reason. You know the Avengers only get involved the major battles out there." Dan offered quietly, still looking at Banner who cocked his head in confusion. "They'll direct the major attention on themselves like always, and we'll be safe here with the Time Stone."

"Yeah and then when they get beaten, we'll be left here without _any_ muscle at all to help us protect this thing! It's better to be in the midst of it all where there's several who can help cover us." I whirled on my friend, a burst of frustrated anger evident in my voice. His easy, explanatory mood was instantly hardened into defense mode and I saw a flicker of golden sparks fizz around his clenched fist.

"Listen, why don't we all go meet Cap at headquarters with Rhodey? I'll go out and tell Rhodey right now and we can be there in twenty minutes." Bruce suggested quickly, stepping in. Wong too, moved forward as if to separate me and Dan.

"I'll tell you what, Dr. Banner…when you and the remaining Avengers finally figure out how to resolve your own issues, you know where we will be. I think you will find there's an even bigger problem on that side." Wong said curtly. Bruce stopped his nervous fidgeting for long enough to stare at Wong carefully, waiting to see if he was serious. When Wong made no move to consider the option of working with the Avengers in this scenario again, the scientist nodded, accepting the sorcerer's seemingly final decision.

"I think I'll just, uh, go then…Rhodey's waiting anyway…" The scientist said uncomfortably, turning away from me to exit the room. Wong watched him go silently, an unreadable look on his face. As soon as Bruce had made his way down to the end of the hallway, Dan looked around the room in a panic.

"Does anybody hear that?!" Dan said, his voice rising fearfully. A high pitched grating sound came from above, followed by what sounded like a jet turbine flying by. A voice – presumably Banner's – shouted something from down the hall that sounded like a warning. Wong took a millisecond's pause before he immediately leapt into action, grabbing both me and Dan by the arms and nearly dragging us through the kitchen away from the doorway where Bruce had just exited.

"Come with me!" Wong hissed, his grip strong as he steered us around the large dining table and through another doorway towards a part of the mansion I hadn't had the chance to explore yet.

"What? What is it?!" I cried, trying to look behind me for the threat that I hadn't seen yet.

"They're here for the Stone." Wong said quickly, jerking to a stop around the corner down a hallway and releasing his hold on our arms. He slipped something onto his fingers and made a swirling motion with his hand and seconds later a large spinning portal appeared. Bruce Banner ran through it a moment later, colliding with the wall of the narrow hallway.

"It's another one of them!" He exclaimed breathlessly, pointing over his shoulder where Wong had just spun the portal out of existence. "She was huge! She…she should've crashed right through the front door, but something stopped her!"

"That would be the protection spells." Wong said with a low growl to his voice. Seeing the fear and worry on Bruce Banner's face, I took a quick step back from the man. He didn't seem to notice.

"Well it didn't look like they did much but surprise her and most likely piss her off!"

"It's a her? You mean there are more than just the two alien guys we saw on the street yesterday?" Dan asked hurriedly. Bruce's wide eyes moved to glance sporadically at both me and Dan before he grabbed Wong's shoulder.

"This is what I was warning you about! We're stuck in here with no protection, no help, and no chance at all!" Bruce said. Wong's face hardened once more, and I was taken aback by the dark look his eyes held.

"That may not be the case." He muttered. Wong eyed Dr. Banner levelly and conjured up the golden machete he had used in practicing with me earlier. Both Dan and I quickly summoned our glowing mandalas, taking up a good portion of the small hallway we were standing in. Bruce looked at the three of us in surprise, backing away slowly to allow us room.

"Okay…so what do I need to…?"

The scientist's words were cut off as Wong lunged at the man, striking him violently in the shoulder with the butt of his magical weapon. Banner cried out in surprise and slid several yards down the long hallway from the force of Wong's attack. Dan and I both ducked down behind our shields, preparing for the Hulk to emerge furious and destructive. When nothing happened for the next few seconds, I chanced a peek over my mandala to see that Dr. Banner, still very much _not_ the Hulk, was unsteadily climbing to his feet.

"Wong, why…?" I trailed off, both wondering why he had hit Dr. Banner in the first place and also why the scientist hadn't transformed into the infamous big green monster. Wong's tense expression had softened only slightly and he hastily strode down the hall to help the poor man to his feet. Bruce clutched at his shoulder in confusion, not really angry towards Wong, but seemingly frustrated at himself.

"Hulk…come on…_please, man_…" He murmured painfully. I watched as Wong once more swirled a golden portal into existence on the wall beside us, opening it up into what appeared to be stone steps leading down into an underground tunnel.

"Forgive me, Dr. Banner. I thought we'd give your friend at least one more chance to make his appearance." Wong said levelly as he gestured for us to go through the golden circle of light. Bruce shook his head as he followed me and Dan through the portal and slowly down the steps.

"I don't know what Hulk thinks he's doing. He won't help me right now, and it scares me…" He muttered, clearly at ends with himself.

"Can you…can you talk to him when you're like this?" I asked as I watched him carefully over my shoulder.

"Not really, it's just bits and pieces…All I've managed to get out of him since the fight yesterday was a 'No.' I can't even really _feel_ him anymore…" Bruce tried to explain. I looked at Dan who was walking ahead of me, his golden mandalas seeming to light the way in the dark tunnel.

"Hey Wong…where are we?" Dan called back a moment later. When there was no immediate answer, I saw Dan turn around quizzically. My chest suddenly tight with fear, I spun around just in time to see the golden portal spin out in a shower of sparks and the wall at the top of the steps behind us was suddenly shrouded in darkness.

"Wong?!" I called worriedly, hesitating for a moment before backtracking towards the spot where the portal had been.

"He left us…" Dan said quietly, his voice light with confusion.

"Hey, look!" Bruce said, directing us both to look further down the stone steps where the ground seemed to level off. A line of torches in the stone tunnel wall blinked into flames, and the three of us made our way quickly but carefully closer down towards the light. Dan and I still wielded our golden shields in case something decided to surprise us, and we continued forward, all on high alert.

"Are we under the house?" Dan asked after another few seconds, peering up at the high stone ceiling above us, just barely visible in the flickering torchlight. Bruce, who was following Dan in front of me, shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not really a house..." The scientist said causally, also tilting his head back and forth as he looked around. "It's a Sanctum. And yeah, I think we are underneath it."

"So Doctor Strange has an awesome name for his house. I get that. My aunt has a house at the beach called 'Mermaid's Wish.' I always thought it was weird…" Dan said, his rambling demeanor starting up with the tense atmosphere around us.

"What was out there?" I asked Bruce worriedly, knowing that he alone had been the one to see what our attacker or attackers looked like. Bruce shrugged as if to blow off the question, choosing to remain in silence.

"Was it another one of those alien people?" Dan asked, pushing him to reveal what we were up against. Bruce stopped in the middle of the walkway, turning to look between both me and Dan in surprise.

"What do you mean by 'another one'? Did you kids see more?" He asked, suddenly even more worried. Dan and I exchanged glances before I spoke up.

"Yeah we saw the two guys from yesterday…We saw Iron Man and Doctor Strange fighting them off…"

"Personally?" Bruce asked, swaying back and forth as he took in both of our expressions. When we both nodded, confused looks on our faces, Bruce seemed to look thoughtful. "So you were there…"

"Yeah we were there! We almost got caught in the middle of the whole battle!" Dan exclaimed, his voice rising slightly with the memory of the excitement and fear of the whole encounter.

"So that's how Strange found you two? You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Bruce commented, not really as a question towards us but as a part of his piecing together process. I hesitated briefly at war with the thoughts that had run through my mind in the past fifteen or so hours since this weird plot twist had happened.

"Yeah, that's what I've been telling myself this whole time…" I muttered as we continued walking. "But I figured…it'd be pretty cool to learn a little bit of magic before we most likely die attempting to protect this thing."

As I glanced down to look at the Time Stone resting against my chest, I felt the warm, living sensation rise into a slow burn. I frowned, my eyebrows pulled low over my suddenly confused eyes.

"Um…" I stopped once more to face Bruce and Dan who had resumed following me. Bruce instantly switched his gaze to the Stone around my neck, and he took a step back worriedly.

"It's…it's glowing. I can see it through the bronze lining of the necklace…" The scientist said quietly. "It wasn't doing that before, was it?"

Dan turned around from where he had been slowly leading Bruce and me down the wide arching tunnel to see what the extra sense of worry was about. His eyes widened in surprise and awe and I realized that he hadn't been fully 'awake' when I had seen Doctor Strange use the Stone the day before.

"What does it mean?" He asked, dropping one of his golden shields and reaching for the necklace. Before his fingers could physically touch the surface of the bronze eye, he paused and quickly withdrew his hand. "It's _hot!"_

"Yeah I know…" I said, shifting my feet worriedly as the growing warmth continued to get rapidly hotter and hotter. Another few seconds went by and, when I suddenly couldn't take the intense burn of the Time Stone on my chest, I grabbed the chains and lifted it quickly from around my neck.

"It's burnt a hole through your shirt!" Dan exclaimed and I didn't even glance down to see if he was serious. Even the large chain in my hands was hot in my grasp and I threw it to the tunnel floor to get the burning thing away from my body.

Then everything suddenly happened at once.

A huge rumble sounded from above us followed by a shower of stones that threw us to our knees in surprise. All three of us cried out in horror as the tunnel seemed to cave in, bits of polished wood and rock crumbling by our sides.

"_Get back!" _Bruce cried to us both as we regained our footing and stumbled away from the now settling cave-in. Dan and I retreated a few yards from where the ceiling had fallen, Bruce hurrying to motion us further away. I spotted a figure in the dust and debris-filled air, lit by the torchlight of what remained of the tunnel. Just by seeing her silhouette I could tell she wasn't from Earth.

"Who is that?" Dan asked as we crept away as quietly as we could. Bruce glanced over his shoulder quickly and pulled us deeper into the tunnel and around a corner before explaining.

"Those aliens you guys saw us fighting yesterday? I'm pretty sure she's with them." Bruce said breathlessly. I reflexively reached for my chest, finding nothing but the hole that Dan had spoken about just moments before. My breath caught in my throat and I choked out an exclamation of horror.

_"The…the Stone! I dropped it!"_ I hissed, turning back to run towards the place where the alien woman had crashed down into the tunnel. Bruce grabbed my arm before I could and he opened his hand which had been covered by his tattered shirt sleeve in order to protect his palm from the balled up chain and bronze Eye that lay there still sizzling. I breathed an internal sigh of relief which was short lived as the wall across from us exploded with a dull thud.

"Don't think you can keep the Time Stone from me, humans." A growling feminine voice called from around the corner. Bruce instantly pushed us behind him, handing the stone to Dan who tucked the glowing necklace into his sweatshirt sleeve. As the woman rounded to corner to retrieve the spear that jutted out from the wall opposite us, I could see her clearly for the first time.

She was at least over seven feet tall with dark cobalt hair that was held back by what looked like some type of horns growing out of her forehead. An ugly scar ran over her lips which were pulled back in what could either be a triumphant smirk or an irritated scowl. Black colored war paint seemed to be painted over her forehead as well, and her beady dark eyes narrowed as she took in the sight of me and Dan seemingly cowering behind Dr. Banner. For good measure, I summoned up what little courage I could and flicked my golden mandalas into existence, one hovering over Bruce's right arm and the other behind him, shielding Dan partway where he held the Stone in his jacket.

The blue woman seemed to scan the three of us for a moment before she noticed something that made her leap into action. She twirled her spear with the jagged spikes on the end around her right arm and swept it to the left, deflecting it off of my right shield. Bruce stepped just a foot to the side in surprise from the force of the blow to my shield which allowed the woman to kick his legs out from under him. She whipped her spear down into the stone floor beside him, and his surprisingly quick reflexes moved him out of harm's way but farther from me and Dan. The blue woman then directed her attention to Dan who now had one of his shields up and was running towards Bruce across the tunnel.

_"Dan, go!"_ I called quickly, stepping towards the woman to call her attention to me. Her mouth pulled into a grimace of anger and she once more flipped her spear around her unnaturally limber body before landing another solid blow against my joined shields. I kept one hand holding the large, golden shield in place while my other hand quickly pointed towards my chest. I conjured up what I hoped was a convincing illusion of the necklace around my neck and seconds later as her gaze lowered to get a good look at me, I got the reaction I had been hoping for. The woman was even more desperate in her strikes against my shield and I moved quickly to sidestep each time she tried to leap around my mandala to get at me and what she thought was the Stone she wanted. Finally, with both hands firmly attached to the dangerous weapon, she jabbed at the very edge of my shield and I lost my mental grasp of the mandala, almost losing my balance as the golden light sparked out of existence. I quickly pretended to shove the necklace back down my shirtfront and the woman grabbed me by my shoulder and pushed me against the stone wall of the tunnel.

"You think you can actually stand to fight against me?" She murmured, her voice sounding like a low growl in her throat. I shook my head, pressing my other hand over my chest in an attempt to keep up the illusion that I still held the Time Stone. Dan crouched over Bruce on the ground a few yards behind the tall blue woman, thankfully being ignored for the moment.

"I…I actually don't think _I_ could stand to fight you…" I said, wincing as she tightened her sharp grip on my shoulder. "But I'm sure Doctor Strange could take you on in a pretty fair fight."

The blue woman blinked as she tried to think about what I meant and I suddenly realized that maybe she _didn't_ know what I was even referring to.

"D-Doctor Strange. Your friends…took him yesterday. Where is he?" I tried again. Something in the blue woman's mind clicked and she gritted her teeth, shoving me harder into the tunnel's wall. I cried out in pain as my shoulder slammed once more into the rock solid wall behind me.

"Dead or soon to be." She hissed, raising her spear and pointing it at me with her left hand, her right one easily holding me off the ground at her eye level. "This 'Strange' may have been able to easily fool Ebony Maw with his tricks but Thanos' children can sense each of the Stones' whereabouts."

"Apparently not. Why did he allow the fake one onto his ship when he took Strange yesterday?" I questioned her, knowing that if I kept talking it would make her angrier but also bide the time until hopefully Dan would realize that he and Dr. Banner needed to escape. I threw an annoyed glance over the alien woman's shoulder and noticed that Bruce was now standing up. Just as I expected, the alien's face shook with anger and she inched her spear closer towards my chest.

"Don't worry…I'll rectify his mistake now." She said hungrily, directing her attention once more to my chest.

My heart hammered painfully and I suddenly thought of everything I would be missing out in life if I died in this moment. I would never become a fully practiced sorcerer like Doctor Strange or Wong, I would never get to see my could-be girlfriend Jillian from the bus, and I would probably never see the light of day again since I would be dying in this underground tunnel. I caught myself reaching to my side, concentrating unconsciously on something across the tunnel. When I spotted an odd flickering of torchlight, I realized that I was attempting to move the torch towards myself for some reason. My hand shook and I flinched as I felt the woman's spear ease off of my chest for what I assumed was the drawback to plunge her weapon into my heart. I squeezed my eyes shut in preparation for the end.

"Hey…rectify _this!_" Bruce yelled. His voice echoed in the stone tunnel before a bright, wildly flaming torchlight slammed into the side of the blue alien's head. I let out a yelp of terror as her spear stabbed into the stone by my side, just grazing my armpit. Her hold on my shoulder loosened slightly from the force of the blow to her head and I scrambled to fully escape from her hold. She hardly seemed to be affected by the scientist's attack though and I chanced another glance over her shoulder to see that Bruce was holding the bottom part of the torch, the thing having snapped in half from the supposed sneak attacks and the force of his swing.

"Proxima Midnight…" A familiar voice bellowed from down the tunnel. I looked past Bruce to see Wong emerge from the shadows, looking disheveled as if he had already fought his hardest. Which, seeing as how the alien woman had been able to find us deep down in the underground of the Sanctum, I guess he _had_ already lost part of his fight against her. "Let the boy go."

My first thought was a rendition of how glad I was to see that Wong had finally come to the rescue, and my second was something about how weird the name 'Proxima Midnight' was. My third thought was my mind suddenly going into panic mode because I noticed the woman staring searchingly then furiously down at the gaping hole in my shirt, revealing my bare chest beneath it. I had let my illusion of the Time Stone down unintentionally.

I aimed a kick at the alien woman's midsection and she took the blow with what sounded like a frustrated shriek probably caused more by the fact that I didn't really have the Stone and less so by my kick. She narrowed her beady dark eyes before she clenched her hand tighter into my shirt and lifted me off the ground against the wall.

_"Wong!"_ I shouted as my back scraped painfully up along the jagged stonework of the wall behind me. I heard my t-shirt ripping under the strength of the woman's grip and I kicked blindly at her but she held herself steady.

That's when an explosion of golden light hit my attacker in the back. Her grip released from my shoulder and I cried out in surprise as I slid down the stones behind me, my back screaming with the agonizing pain. Suddenly the stonework digging into my back melted away and my body did a backflip in midair, the familiar golden sparks of a portal surrounding me. Then I felt strong arms haul me to my feet and I found that I was across the room from Proxima Midnight and Wong, alongside Bruce and Dan.

"Come on, Alex, we've gotta get out of here!" Dan hissed quickly. Bruce kept turning over his shoulder as we crept hurriedly along the outer wall of the tunnel and further away from the alien threat.

"Where's the Stone?" I gasped, trying my best to ignore the throbbing pain in my back. Bruce pointed to Dan who patted the front pocket of his sweatshirt. I threw another glance behind me as I heard Proxima Midnight growl with frustration at the most recent spell Wong had hit her with. I heard a clang of metal on metal and before we rounded the corner out of the woman's sight, I could see that Wong had conjured up his golden machete to fend her off. The blue woman turned her furious glare our way and rebounded Wong's machete with her own spear, throwing the sorcerer against the other side of the tunnel. Taking her moment of temporary victory, she ran toward us, her dark spear raised to throw.

"Dan, give Dr. Banner the Stone!" I hurriedly ordered as we ducked around the corner, now running as quickly as we could go in the dimly-lit tunnel. Dan, surprisingly without hesitation, grabbed the necklace from his sweatshirt pocket as we retreated, careful to avoid the bronze Eye as he thrust the Stone into the waiting scientist's hands.

"Why…?" Bruce asked as he wrapped his sleeves around the still burning necklace. Before I could answer him, I noticed a rapidly flying object slam into the wall a mere foot away from where we stood. I recognized the sharp, dark end of Proxima Midnight's spear jutting out of the wall in front of us and barely had time to register the fact to the other two beside me before the stone walls caved in on us.


	7. Midnight Bears Down

_"Strange! Doctor Strange! Please…tell me you're still there! We need help!" _

My eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and my heart hammered fearfully in my chest. My back was wet with either sweat or blood from the damage I'm sure the stone wall of the tunnel had done to me. I found that I couldn't move, and that did even more to curb my growing terror.

When I got no answer to my mental shout for help, I hesitantly opened my eyes to see that I was surrounded by golden light in the pitch blackness. I blinked in confusion to see that two other figures crouched beside me.

"D-Dr. Banner? Are you okay?" I asked breathlessly. In the light of the golden glow, I could see that the man shifted just a tiny bit to look in my direction.

"I…I don't know…" He muttered uncertainly. I looked past him and spotted two large, distinct spheres hovering over Dr. Banner's right side. Dan crouched beneath them, his arms held shakily over his head.

"Dan…how did you react that fast?!" I choked out, feeling crushed. Dan looked over and nodded towards me.

"I don't know…how did _you_ react that fast?" Dan managed to reply, his voice strained. I glanced up and found that my arms were raised in the same shielding way that Dan's was, two large golden mandala's preventing the fallen tunnel wall from crumbling in on the three of us from the left. Dan's shields protected us on the right, with Dr. Banner cradling the Time Stone in his sleeves between us.

"…Are you kids okay?" Bruce asked after a few seconds, breaking the awed silence in the cramped space. I looked down from my glowing shields to throw a glance at Dan who seemed like he was definitely not okay.

"I don't know how much longer we can…hold this…" I said for the both of us. My forearms were shaking as if I was physically holding the caved-in rock with my bare hands. Which, in a way, I guess we were.

"What do we do?" Dan choked out as he shifted uncomfortably on his knees. I shook my head, trying to push my shields against the rock above me. The weight on top of us didn't budge.

"Hang on, guys…you're doing an awesome job right now…" Bruce muttered in what I assumed he thought would be encouraging to us. I strained against the heavy rock, sweat beading up almost immediately on my forehead.

"Dr. Banner…just make sure you don't let go of that Stone…no matter what happens!" I grunted as I tried once more to push upward to get some more of the pressure to loosen up.

"I've…I've got it, don't worry…" The scientist to my right said, opening his sleeve-covered hands to reveal the dim green glow that shone from the inside of the bronze pendant. I clenched my jaw under the strain of the pile of rock above me, feeling like it was getting heavier and heavier.

"What…what do you think they'll do if we can't hold this up anymore? They'll dig us out, right?" Dan asked hopefully after another few seconds. I looked over to see his defeated expression.

"I mean…they'll want the Stone back so…" I offered lightly. Dan looked over at me and managed a small smile. "But we're not going to let go…we can hold this up for a little while longer, don't you think?"

Bruce looked up from the glowing green Stone and met my eyes as Dan looked away. My hopeful smile faltered and I tried to stand to relieve the pressure on my knees and ankles. As I slowly attempted to unbend my legs, I was startled to find that the rock seemed to actually give way this time. I stopped moving and looked up in awe, seeing as Bruce and Dan both followed my gaze.

The huge ton of rock suddenly rose up from our shoulders, slowly at first and then more steadily and seemed to stop and float in the air a few feet above us. Still afraid to make a move, the three of us crouched on the ground, our shields still glowing strongly overhead. From the corner of my eye I spotted a figure across the tunnel, one arm raised above his head shielded by a large golden mandala and the other gesturing toward the rock above us.

"Wong!" I called thankfully. He offered a forced smirk and then nodded to the three of us impatiently. Finally getting his silent message, I quickly climbed to my feet and dissolved my shields, pulling Bruce along with me.

_"Look out!"_ Dan shouted to the man. Wong tore his gaze away from us and set his jaw in anticipation.

Proxima Midnight had apparently recovered her dangerous spear from the rubble and she hurriedly smashed it down towards the preoccupied sorcerer. The rock overhead shook and crumbled around us as we hurried to retreat from underneath it. Wong quickly regained his composure after throwing another flurry of explosive spells at the woman and held onto the cave-in before it could fall back on top of us. Seconds later, the three of us were clear and he let the massive weight of rock slam back to the tunnel floor. We kept running, once again out of the blue alien woman's eyesight. Her scream of rage echoed deafeningly down the tunnel after us and seemed to build in volume until it sounded like she was right behind us.

"Alex, get behind Bruce!" Dan called from ahead of me. I whirled around and could see that Proxima Midnight had hurled herself over the rubble that had trapped us moments before. I stopped right behind Bruce and conjured up my shield just as she slammed her spear down for a death blow to the scientist.

"You are _not_ going to get this from us…I don't care who you think you are…" I said through gritted teeth as she leaned her weight further into the spear and against my shield. Her dark eyes gleamed in fury and her teeth were bared into a menacing snarl as she continued to return my glare. "Dan, you and Bruce get out of here!"

"How about we get _her_ out of here." Wong's corrective voice said from behind me. I choked out a surprised gasp as a golden circle of light appeared over my shield, the interior of the Sanctum upstairs materializing around Proxima Midnight. The tall woman blinked in confusion for a millisecond before angrily trying to hurl herself against my shield again. Before she could, Wong quickly closed the portal and the tunnel was thrown into dead silence.

"Wong – I…" I stammered uncontrollably, my mind going seven hundred miles an hour. Wong ignored me for the moment and turned to Bruce who offered the sorcerer a dumbfounded glance before he opened his sleeve-covered hands and showed him that the Time Stone still remained in our possession.

"Alexander, take the Stone and keep it on your person. Strange entrusted it to you." Wong ordered, breathless from the battle he had just postponed. I hurriedly grabbed the necklace from Bruce, the intense burning dulled to a minimum for the moment. I was about to slide the chain on over my head but I remembered the gaping burn hole in my t-shirt and thought better of it. Instead I slipped the necklace into my jeans pocket, taking care to stuff all of the chain in there as well so the alien woman wouldn't be able to see where I hid it right away.

"Why didn't you teleport her to Greenland or somewhere else that isn't here?" Dan asked, having noticed the destination of Wong's portal just as I had. Wong squeezed his eyes closed for a moment and heaved a great irritated sigh as he swiped his hands across his chest, conjuring up a weird-looking coil of what looked like glowing red barbed wire.

"It was the quickest place I could think of." Wong admitted gruffly.

"What do you want us to do, Wong? I can hear her coming back…" I said slowly as I listened to the distant thundering footsteps far above us. Though we were far below ground, it would take her less than a minute to find her way back down to us.

"I want you to conjure up illusions, just like we practiced this morning." He said steadily. "The phony necklace you conjured before did well to attract her attention the first time so let's try something like that again. She can sense the Stone's presence but if she can't physically see exactly where it is…"

"It'll confuse her and we might be able to sneak the real one away…" I finished for him thoughtfully. I looked around the stone tunnel and swept my hands through the air in front of me. It took a few seconds but, through some of the mental calming techniques I had read about in the marked pages of the books I had read in the library, I was able to conjure up the illusion that the floor was covered in hundreds of bronze necklaces. As Proxima Midnight's angry cries and footsteps grew closer and closer, the necklace in my pocket grew to a steady burn.

"Wow…" Dan's voice sounded from behind me, clearly mystified. I didn't look back at him knowing that if I did, he might think I was trying to be smug about the illusion I had been able to cast.

"Great. Now, we'll need some extra assistance…" Wong said thoughtfully as he continued his pause, clearly trying to build up to be dramatic. I frowned thoughtfully, and then suddenly grew worried as I heard what sounded like Proxima Midnight crashing down through the hole in the ground she had originally made to get down to the catacombs beneath the Sanctum.

"Shouldn't we run or something?" Bruce finally piped up worriedly. Wong held up his right hand to silence us as if telling us we should wait. I shifted on my feet uncomfortably and double-checked the illusion surrounding us and reached out to the torches on the surrounding walls. There were four of them in complete view of us before the tunnel curved to the right. I imagined the flames could almost as easily be controlled as the water from the bathroom faucet had been just a little while earlier. I relaxed only slightly as the flames flickered in my direction, knowing that in just a few seconds Proxima Midnight would be running our way, even more furious than she was a few moments ago.

"Okay Alex…whatever happens, keep up the illusion. And retreat when I tell you to…" Wong ordered as he threw a hand over his shoulder and swirled another portal into existence. I nodded in acknowledgement of his instructions and moved into my battle-ready stance as I heard the giant blue alien woman was nearly around the corner. To my right about a yard or so away, I could see that Dan's golden shields materialized readily. I swallowed hard past the nervous lump in my throat and quickly tried to summon up something that could be used as a weapon. Maybe something that could be a conduit to the flames the torches held on the walls around us…

"Here she comes…" Bruce murmured worriedly from behind me. I suddenly felt a quick warm burst of heat slice through my hand and hurriedly glanced down. In my right hand I held a strange sort of golden-glowing staff, definitely not as long as the fiendish weapon Proxima Midnight wielded, but surprisingly comfortable to handle as I flipped it once over my arm. I caught it with a thoughtful glance and quickly noted the apparent end of the weapon. There were five claw-shaped points curved inward toward the staff part of the thing, and I frowned as I studied it. Before I could do much more to think about it, I spotted quick movement around the nearest corner of the tunnel.

The monstrous blue woman ran towards us and then hastily stopped to take in the sight of the illusion of phony Eyes littering the tunnel floor. She angrily looked up at us, not knowing if it was truly a trick or if the real Stone was actually hidden amongst them.

"You must think this is some kind of game…allowing such _children_ to possess something so powerful…and then thinking they will actually be able to protect it." She said tauntingly, her voice harsh from the running she had just done. She stood facing us down with her spear resting casually on her shoulder.

"I assure you….we know this is no game." Wong said as he threw the red loop of glowing barbed wire in a powerful pitch straight towards the woman. She sidestepped where he had aimed the throw at her face, but the glow of red speedily and effectively coiled around her fist where she gripped the spear. With one firm yank, Wong pulled the spear out of her hand, which seemed to not only surprise her, but also succeed in flipping on her anger switch again. She lunged forward to grab her spear back up and fight but Wong quickly gestured with his other hand towards the portal over his shoulder.

"Our extra assistance had arrived." The man said calmly. As if on cue, a human shaped metal figure flew through it with its weapons aimed right at the alien woman. She let out a furious growl of protest as the iron-clad figure shot out several mini missiles at her, and the explosions blasted her violently back around the bend of the tunnel.

"Don't think you can just swat War Machine aside like a bug and get away with it, Lady Blue!" The silver suited figure called, his voice sounding almost robotic from inside his suit.

"War Machine?" Dan repeated the name. He ducked hurriedly as the silver Iron Man suit swung back around the tunnel to rush back at the already hotheaded alien.

"That's Colonel James Rhodes, one of Tony's good friends. He's the one I was talking about earlier…he's been alerting people about the upcoming threat." Bruce quickly explained, watching in relief as the weaponized man flew towards the woman again, firing the large machine gun on his shoulder repeatedly at her.

"Oh." I replied, watching the fight in front of us worriedly. Wong took just a brief moment to make sure that the War Machine had Proxima Midnight preoccupied before turning and shooing us away. He swirled his hand past us and yet another portal appeared.

"You three go back into the upper levels of the Sanctum. I'll aid Colonel Rhodes if needed to drive her off. Do not leave the mansion under any circumstances…if the other members of the Black Order get wind that the Time Stone has been removed from its protection here, more will come." He warned steadily. I shook my head and pointed at the large blue alien woman still busy fighting Rhodey in front of us.

"_She's_ here though….what does that mean about how protective your spells are?" I contradicted him nervously. In my jeans pocket the Time Stone continued to burn in warning.

"There are _several_ others who would wish to possess the Time Stone. Why do you think just_ one_ of them decided to attack?" Wong explained cryptically. I stared at him unblinkingly for a millisecond before Dan answered him.

"They want to test out our defenses?" He guessed. Wong turned to my sandy-haired friend and nodded in confirmation.

"Exactly. And it seems she's put up quite a fight to just get in here past the wards. She's definitely not fighting her hardest now." Wong said, gesturing to the pivotal ducking and swiping that the alien woman was doing.

Proxima Midnight was literally attempting to swat at the flying War Machine like he was a pesky fly. As if she could hear us across the cave and over the sounds of machine gun fire and mini bombs striking the ground around her, she turned our way and threw me a look of absolute hatred. She took one look around at the necklace-covered tunnel floor before she flipped her spear around to distract Rhodey and then did an imitation of a cartwheel, kicking her long, muscular legs up towards the unsuspecting man.

"Hurry!" Wong ushered us toward the waiting portal. I shook my head and ducked as the woman grabbed a handful of the phony necklaces on the ground and I struggled to hold onto the illusion before it could falter. She glared at the bronze clutter of chains and pendants in her grasp before she threw them at the four of us. They easily phased through us but I still somehow kept up the illusion of the ground covered in at least a foot of necklaces.

That's when I remembered the strange glowing staff in my right hand that I had been able to conjure into existence. I reflexively raised it up and stared at the four torches, two on either side of the tunnel. It took only a fraction of a minute, but the few seconds of confusion that crossed over Proxima Midnight's angry expression was all I needed. The flames licked my way for a brief moment before I looked warily at the top of my staff. My eyes widened as I noticed the five claws slowly unclench and open into what looked like an outstretched hand. The flames immediately were pulled towards the staff and I cringed as the streaks of fire collected in the middle of the curved claws. The fire swirled into a mini globe floating in the top of my staff and I felt the heat spread all the way down to where my hand gripped was gripped around the shimmering golden rod. It was certainly not as hot as the Time Stone still scorching in my jeans pocket, but it was still a little unsettling.

The only light in the dark tunnel now emanated only from my magically conjured staff and Dan's golden mandala shields. Rhodey landed somewhere to the left of me, signified by the distinct metallic thud of his suit hitting the ground. I watched the mesmerizing swirl of the fire in the claws at the end of my staff before I noticed Proxima Midnight's thoughtful and furious face in the dancing light. When she made a sudden move to rush at me, I pulled the staff back reflexively. Feeling the warmth of the staff build in intensity, I then directed whatever energy it had and was in awe as a stream of flame shot out of the swirling globe of fire. The woman screamed in surprise and dove away from me.

"How are you doing that?!" Dan shouted excitedly, watching me over his golden shields. As the blue woman hesitated I fixed her with what I hoped looked like a challenging expression. When she moved just a fraction of a step closer, I hit her with another burst of flame.

"You…you mean this isn't normal wizard-in-training magic tricks?" The man called Rhodes commented. Wong made a noise of either approval or disbelief and I scooped up a handful of the illusioned necklaces just as Proxima Midnight had done a moment ago. This time when she stood back to level me with her threatening death glare, I tossed the handful of fake necklaces into the air like one would do to a baseball and then swung my magical staff forward to shoot out yet another small explosion of flames.

"Absolutely not…Alex did you read _only_ the marked pages I left for you?" Wong asked over the sound of my fireblasts and Proxima Midnight's attack attempts.

"Um…" I said genuinely not sure. I shrugged over my shoulder as I ran forward toward the woman in a sudden rebellious move. "I can't remember, honestly! I mean, I _could _have read a little extra around what you sticky-noted for me…"

"Wong, teach me something so I can help!" I heard Dan's voice plead behind me. I ignored that and continued to rush at the alien lady, who was stuck down in a battle-ready crouch, waiting to spring when I got close enough.

"You stupid boy…" She growled as she leapt forward and collided with me. Thankfully I had pulled the magically-conjured staff across my middle before she knocked me to the ground. I lay sprawled on my back, pushing with all of my strength against the woman's own spear, blocking it with the staff. Her murderous gaze tore into me and I shook with the strain of her super-powerful muscles bearing down on my own human strength.

"I'm coming Alex!" I heard Dan call out. I shook my head up at Proxima Midnight's dark and triumphant gaze, and aimed a kick at her midsection. Distracting her only slightly, I twisted the staff around in my grip and managed to fire another burst of flames straight into her snarling face. As she leapt back in a furious screech of pain, she collided with Dan who held what looked like a golden mandala pulled back and pulsing with energy. As soon as the woman met with the surface of the conjured thing in Dan's possession, she was blasted backward into the tunnel wall several yards away from us.

"Nice one, Dan!" Bruce's voice called from behind me as I scrambled to my feet. My back still burned with the damage it had accumulated over the course of the battle and I winced as I straightened myself on my feet and held my fire staff at the ready. I could see that Proxima Midnight angrily peeled herself from the wall and crumbled rock around her, her mouth twisted into that default scowl once more.

"Alexander, keep up the illusion!" Wong reminded me as the necklaces littering the ground winked in the dim light of the tunnel. I directed my attention back to them, even kicking a good lot of them in the alien woman's direction just to anger her even further.

"You want the Stone?" I called to her as she limped menacingly toward us. I glanced quickly back to Wong, who still stood impatiently at the open portal that led up into the upper part of the Sanctum. I looked back to Proxima Midnight who was twirling her spear again angrily. "Come and get it, then."

I backtracked, not taking my eyes off of her rapidly approaching figure in the darkness. I grabbed Dan's arm and pushed him back towards where Wong, Bruce and War Machine waited. Bruce stepped through the golden glowing portal first, followed by Dan. I moved to fire another burst of flame at the alien woman, but was nearly knocked off my feet as her spear slammed into my arm. The first thing I noticed as I stumbled through the portal was that I had lost my awesome magic fire staff. The second thing was that Proxima Midnight's weapon was stuck and had fallen through the portal into the mansion along with me. Through the swirling golden portal I could see that an explosion of sorts lit up the darkness in the tunnel, and then War Machine stepped heroically through, entering the Sanctum. Wong leapt back through the portal and closed it, leaving the alien woman down underground in the pitch blackness.

"Alex! _Alex, oh my God!"_ Dan was screaming in my ear. I winced and shoved his face away from where I was sprawled on my back on the polished wooden floors of the mansion.

"Alex, hold still, she really got you…" Bruce said, as he crouched over me too. I shook my head and then chanced a glance to my right arm where I could still see the spear. I tried to focus my gaze on the sharp points and felt my stomach roll at the sight I witnessed. Two of the three blades had cleared my forearm but the third had embedded itself through my bicep. Blood soaked through the sleeve of what was left of my ruined green t-shirt and my other hand shook as I tried to put some pressure on the wound.

"We don't have much time…" Wong warned as if he was listening for the alien woman's whereabouts as she made her way back up to us. I looked up to Bruce's expression as he examined my wound and impaled arm. He met my fearful gaze for a second.

"We have to get him some medical attention." He called over his shoulder to Wong. Dan stood behind Bruce, his eyes wide in disbelief and horror as he stared fixedly at the blood flowing from where the blade struck me.

"He must not leave the Sanctum. Strange forbids it." Wong repeated for probably the third time.

"Well, we don't have to leave, but we need to get him to a place where I can remove this thing from his arm." Bruce said. Where his voice and stature was tentative and fearful before, he now seemed to be the complete opposite. Our situation seemed to have reached his apparent level of expertise as he carefully touched the end of the spear jutting out of my arm. I flinched and pressed my other hand tighter against the surrounding flesh of my bicep, gritting my teeth against the pain I was starting to feel.

"Take him upstairs." Wong finally ordered. I looked up at him worriedly, and nodded towards the large scepter- like weapon.

_"How?!"_ I exclaimed, my voice choked with emotion. Wong ignored me.

"Where?" Bruce asked thoughtfully. Wong had already spun another portal that opened up into a large open room with a tiled floor. Bruce glanced back down at me and then gestured over his shoulder to Dan who stood with his hands wringing nervously. "Okay, Dan we'll need to move him through the portal. Help me, please?"

"No…no I can stand…this is fine…" I said quickly, imagining the pain that would spark to life when they tried and most likely failed to lift me. I scrambled to try and roll over, but the weight of the heavy spear left me unbalanced.

"Alex, relax!" Bruce ordered, moving behind me to grasp my good shoulder. Dan grabbed my legs and I clutched my injured arm around the blade automatically as they attempted to lift me.

"I've got you, kid…" Another voice said to my right. I looked up to see that the man who called himself War Machine had his armor-encased hands placed under my back, far enough away from the gushing wound, but still close enough to cause another shooting pain up through to my shoulder and bicep. I squeezed my eyes shut once more as I felt them carry me carefully through the portal.

"Th-thank you Colonel Rhodes, sir…" I managed to utter as the three people set me gently down on a cold medical table. The man's face was exposed from his iron mask and I caught his teasing smirk before he patted my good shoulder supportively.

"Call me Rhodey." He said. He looked up to Bruce who thanked him quickly as well. "You good?"

"I think so…we're safe up here, right?" Bruce asked, looking around at Strange's home medical room amazedly as he rolled up his sleeves.

"He apparently thinks so." Rhodey said, thumbing over his shoulder to where Wong stood on the other side of the portal guarding it in case Proxima Midnight showed up earlier than he expected. He pointed down at me. "Now, you're still hanging on to that Infinity Stone thing, aren't you?"

I patted my pocket in acknowledgement, leaving a bloody handprint on my jeans. The man nodded seriously and then turned to retreat back to the portal. Dan still stood behind Dr. Banner, looking between me and Bruce and to where Rhodey had once more donned his metal mask.

"Wait! Can…Can I help in anyway?" He called to the War Machine. The man turned and seemed to say something to Wong through the other side of the portal. He turned back and shook his head.

"This'll be an easy finish. She'll be almost defenseless without her spear. Wong and I can handle it." He said quickly before he stepped through the portal. The golden glow swirled out of existence and left the three of us in the brightly lit medical room.

"Alright Alex, we're going to need to work fast, so just bear with me, okay?" Bruce said as he fumbled through a few of the surrounding cabinets and drawers searchingly.

"Um…okay…" I managed to say uncertainly. Dan fumbled with the items that the scientist handed him, and then set them on a small side table that he wheeled to my right side where I lay. I blinked against the bright lights above me, my eyelids suddenly growing very heavy. I chanced another look to my right arm and could see that the table underneath me was already pooled with blood from the wound. My head swam at the sight and I shut my eyes against it, turning my head back up towards the ceiling lights before I could puke.

"Dan, I want you to talk to Alex and keep him preoccupied for me." Bruce called from the corner of the room where he quickly washed his hands in the small sink.

"Hey man…" Dan's voice said in my left ear. I swiveled my head in his direction and looked at his nervous expression. He kept flicking his gaze over to the spear sticking straight up from the table and I waited expectantly for him to say something else and fail at distracting me from the pain and fearfulness going through my head.

"Okay, Alex I'm starting now." Bruce commented lightly from my right side. I immediately stiffened in anticipation.

"Have you ever done something like this before, Dr. Banner?" I asked hurriedly, forcing myself to not look in his direction.

"Not exactly…" Bruce admitted slowly. I felt him lightly dabbing something around my forearm and then up toward my elbow and around where the spear was embedded in my bicep.

"Great…" I whispered nervously to myself. I looked up at Dan's paling face as he watched over me while Bruce worked. After several seconds of feeling the same gentle motion up and down my arm I frowned up at my friend.

"He's cleaning the…the blood up right now…" Dan quietly explained when he caught my confused glance.

"Dan, get him talking please…" Bruce said gently from my right. I took a deep breath, thinking that meant he was ready to move on with his playing doctor process.

"So…So Alex, what was with the fire action down there just now, huh?" Dan asked hurriedly, his gaze still trained halfheartedly on my impaled right arm.

"Yes, that was pretty neat. How did you figure out how to do that so quickly?" Bruce commented lightly.

"I honestly don't know…" I said slowly, cringing as I felt Bruce apply a little pressure to the weapon in my arm. "I think it was kind of like how I was messing around with that water earlier…"

"It was really cool…" Dan offered. I smiled wearily at him and then held in a stream of curse words as Bruce tried to tug the spear out of my bicep.

_"What the hell?!"_ I protested, trying to jerk my arm back away from the scientist-playing-medical-doctor.

"Sorry." Dr. Banner muttered under his breath. I continued to stare at his thoughtful expression until he finally removed his hands from the spear and returned my look equally as challenging.

"I can't do this, I really can't…" I said quickly, as I shifted on the medical table uncomfortably. Bruce grabbed my forearm, careful not to get too close to the part that was currently still impaled by the alien weapon.

"You were down there fighting off that giant seven-foot alien lady just a minute ago and now you can't handle a little pain to get this out of you?" Bruce coaxed, his face showing a little too much amusement for my taste. I shook my head in a panic and continued to pull my arm away from him.

"I'm probably going to die from the alien bugs and bacteria on this thing anyway, so why don't you just wait until that happens to get rid of it?" I rambled. Dan grabbed my other shoulder and helped Bruce to push me back down to a semi-flat state on the medical table.

"Alex, man…you're not going to die. We have to keep that Time Stone thing protected from these monsters, remember? Doctor Strange told you that you could do it, so you can." He tried to reassure me. I hesitated and then finally allowed myself to sit still once more, my right hand covering my jeans pocket where the Stone was still hidden.

"Alright I'm going to try one more time to remove this…" Bruce said gently and I made myself turn away from my right shoulder before he could move back into position.

"Please don't say remove…." I muttered, feeling my stomach roll sickeningly. I looked back at Dan who offered me a worried smirk.

"We've got more magical stuff to learn too, you can't die now." My best friend said. I scoffed and rolled my eyes lightly.

"And we've also gotta get back to those girls again, don't we? Jillian and…Wendy?" I said, trying to move my mind away from whatever Bruce was doing by my right shoulder.

"Yeah. You know, I've been thinking maybe she looked like a Michelle or a Brittany…" Dan laughed lightly.

"Stephanie?" I added with a smirk that ended in a grimace as I felt a shooting pain run through my entire right arm and shoulder.

"Almost…got it…" Bruce said. Suddenly he stopped as a loud rumble shook through the building. The cabinets and chairs around the room trembled, adding to the cacophony of noise that took place. I raised my head off of the table and looked at the ceiling and walls worriedly.

"What's going on?!" I shouted over the racket, trying to decide whether I need to move or not.

"Is it an earthquake?!" Dan exclaimed, running over toward one of the windows in the wall to the right.

"Stay calm, guys!" Bruce tried to say. He was interrupted by the sound of splitting wood and a greater rumble that shook the room so badly that an assortment of metal medical utensils on the nearby counter was thrown to the tiled floor. I jumped at the noise and cried out as the spear in my shoulder seemed to be yanked upward. I pressed my hand around the wound and could see that the spear was slowly inching itself out of my bicep on its own.

_"Oh my God…what is it doing?!"_ I shouted and I caught myself kicking against the table as the white hot agony shot through my whole body. Before either Dan or Bruce could react, the spear shot upward, ripping a hole through the ceiling as it disappeared up into the air.

_"Jesus!"_ Dan shouted, running back to my side as I choked out another anguished cry. My vision was streaked with black and I looked around frantically, my gaze finally resting on the hole in the roof where I could distantly see the afternoon sky. I spotted a spaceship much like the one we had seen the day before and when I blinked it had vanished in a flash of what I assumed signified that it had gone into warp-speed.

"Alex? Alex listen to me, okay…" Dr. Banner's voice said to my right. I could faintly feel a tight pressure on my right arm but the pain had dulled to a slight minimum. My eyes were glued to the hole in the ceiling and my gaze wobbled as I felt someone shaking my shoulders. I blinked heavily and spotted Dan's worried blue eyes staring down at me. His mouth moved but I couldn't understand anything that he was trying to say to me. I tried to focus what was left of my mental energy on my right pocket where I still felt the Time Stone. The burn had all but disappeared and I took that to mean that Proxima Midnight and the threat had also gone…for now.


	8. Controlling Time

**Hey everyone! I hope you're enjoying this story so far and I'd really like to thank you for keeping up with me this long! I want to quickly apologize for how short this chapter is compared to the last few I've posted, but I think I've honestly been doing pretty well on my part to update every week so far since I've started this. Here's to hoping I can keep that streak going! Anyways, if you have any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear them! Thanks again and please enjoy! **

The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to find that I was back in my room. Well, the guest room that I had been given in the Sanctum Sanctorum. The shades were pulled low over the windows, and no sunlight shone around the edges so I took that to mean that it had to be nighttime. A small lamp on the nightstand by my bed cast a soft warm glow around the room.

I sat up and groaned as my right arm throbbed painfully. I moved my left hand over to gently run my fingers over the bandages I felt there. I frowned and then had a mini heart-attack as I reached with my left hand to my right pocket. The Time Stone was gone.

"Wong?!" I called out, breaking the unnatural silence of the room. My voice was scratchy and hoarse from having just woken up from my few hours' unintentional sleep. The door to my room immediately opened and Dan poked his head in worriedly.

"Alex, you're okay!" He said in relief as he opened the door the rest of the way and came in. I stared at him in confusion as he walked in, wearing what looked like some odd looking red karate outfit. He noticed my confused expression and his relaxed smirk faded quickly. "Don't freak out man, everything's alright. She's long gone, Wong says that she won't come back without reinforcements which may take a while…but she can't hurt you now man, it's okay…"

"What are you doing?" I asked, noting the strange tone in his voice. He was babying me. Dan frowned and then shifted his feet on the floor as he stood by my bed.

"Bruce said you would probably wake up with amnesia and have a meltdown as soon as the sedative wore off…" He muttered thoughtfully.

"Sedative." I repeated. Dan eyed me up and down worriedly.

"_Are_ you having a meltdown?"

_"No."_ I said simply. "And I definitely don't have amnesia. Where is the Stone? It's not in my pocket, and I don't remember taking…"

"Yeah…that's because we changed your clothes. You got um…blood…all over the place. It was really kinda horrifying." Dan said, screwing up his face uncomfortably. I looked away from him to find that underneath the few blankets on top of me, I too wore some of the weird karate robes.

"Okay…" I said thoughtfully, amazed at how comfy the robes felt. "Then where is…"

"It's around your neck, man." Dan said as he grabbed the chain from around my neck and held up the bronze Eye for me to see. The green glow that had radiated from within it before was nowhere to be found. I took the pendant from Dan's hand and examined it thoughtfully for a few seconds as my mind tried to play catch up.

"What happened after I passed out?" I asked quietly, my mind strangely blank. Dan scratched the back of his head and sighed like it was a chore to explain. I looked up at his reaction and noticed his tired expression. Apparently quite a bit had occurred while I had been out.

"Well for starters…that Proxima Midnight woman is gone. According to Rhodey and Wong she teleported back up to her ship. That was the loud earthquake thing that happened and I guess she wanted to take her spear with her and it flew up after her. Bruce said the pain of the quick extraction caused you to pass out. I helped him patch you up and then Wong found us both these awesome magician robes and we brought you here." Dan quickly related.

"Thanks…" I said slowly as I looked down at my bicep wrapped in layers and layers of gauze and medical tape. Dan beamed proudly and shrugged.

"That was the easy part, really. For the past few hours, Wong has actually been teaching me some of the stuff he's tried to teach you. Look at this…" Dan said eagerly. I turned back in his direction and watched as he held his left hand palm up towards the ceiling. Seconds later, a spark of blue lightning shot from his palm and hit the ceiling, leaving a tiny black scorch mark in the light wood. My eyes widened and I nodded in awe.

"That's actually really awesome, Dan." I said, impressed. He raised his other hand and directed his attention toward the windows on the opposite side of the room. With a quick swipe upward, the shades covering the window rolled up, revealing the streetlights outside. I looked back over at Dan's excited smile and laughed.

_"It's like telekinesis!"_ He exclaimed as he bounced up and down with his jittery excitement. I raised my left arm up to stretch and ruffled the back of my dark messy hair wearily.

"I'm glad you're finally getting to do something you like, man." I said through a yawn. Dan nodded and then lightly kicked at the nightstand by the bed.

"Yeah…I'm really sorry about earlier…I was kinda jealous over you getting all the attention and the fact that Wong thought I wasn't deserving enough to learn any magic…" He said slowly.

"I know," I said understandingly as I offered my best friend a reassuring smirk. The door then swung open once more and Wong appeared carrying a tray with a sandwich and a steaming cup of the herbal tea that seemed to be the default drink around here.

"Alexander, you're finally awake." He remarked as he set the tray down on the nightstand. I nodded and then tried to sit up again, being very wary of my right arm.

"Did we win?" I asked him worriedly. Wong slowly shook his head.

"For the moment I guess you could count that as a win on our part, but they will definitely return, most likely with some more of their friends." Wong explained sharply. I swallowed hard and then reached for the tiny handle-less teacup on the tray.

"Where are Bruce and Rhodey?" I asked, noticing their absence.

"Oh, they went to meet with Captain America and some of the other Avengers." Dan answered. He glanced warily at Wong behind the sorcerer's back and I understood his signal. Wong had refused their help in protecting the Time Stone again.

"They have their own problems," Wong said as I took a hesitant sip of the hot tea. "And we must be ready for the next attack."

"Sounds like Dan's been having a good time learning," I said to him casually. Wong nodded briefly and turned back to regard my friend who stood behind him sporting a smug side smirk.

"Indeed. But you must get back into your training as well. We've lost several hours to your recovery." Wong said, gesturing to my injury. I looked down at my bandaged arm and then raised my eyebrows challengingly.

"You don't have anything stronger than this tea here to help boost the healing process, do you?" I asked. Wong rewarded me with an amused smirk before turning away to the door.

"You're a little young for that I'm afraid, Alex. Both of you meet me in the foyer in ten minutes." Wong said lightly as he exited the room. Dan turned back to look at me apologetically.

"He's been on edge all afternoon…I think if I hadn't been catching onto what he taught me so quickly, he probably would've moved on and found somebody else to help us." Dan said quietly. I frowned.

"Who else would he let help? If he turned down Captain America and the others, what makes you think he'd let anyone else?"

Dan was quiet for a moment as he glanced out the window down into the darkened street outside. A few cars drove by, casting weird shadows on the ceiling with their bright headlights.

"Well there's gotta be more Sanctums in other parts of the world, right? Maybe he'll call on them if things get really desperate." Dan finally said. I blinked against the lamplight thoughtfully and then took another long sip from the hot tea.

"Did he tell you that there were more?" I asked gently. Dan shrugged and then shook his head.

"But I mean, it's just Wong and Doctor Strange that live here, maybe this is like their house or something. Maybe the other magicians and sorcerers have their own special houses and no one knows about them because they're protected with the kind of wards and guards that they have over this place." Dan said speculatively. I paused in the middle of taking another drink of the warming tea and nearly choked on it.

"Yeah…lotta good those protection spells did us today, huh?" I asked, wincing as I remembered the frantic battle from earlier. Dan nodded and then finally turned back around from looking out the window.

"I guess we'd better get out there to help Wong…he'll probably illusion the walls coming down on us pretty soon if we don't do what he says." Dan sighed as he crossed the room back to the door. I grimaced as I set the half-empty cup of tea back on the tray and forced myself to sit up. My bicep still burned as my arm shifted with my movement. Dan stood and waited patiently until I had climbed to my feet before leaning over and grabbing some slipper-like shoes from the floor.

"Perfect! Now my look is complete!" I said jokingly as I slipped them on and followed Dan out into the quiet wooden hall. As soon as I left the warm light of my room, I stopped and took in the sight of the darkened hallway outside.

The cabinets were still there lining the hallway, seemingly having remained untouched during the battle. I breathed a sigh of relief at that realization but something still didn't look right. I stared down at the polished wooden floor and noticed the scuff marks crisscrossing up and down the long hall, the wood torn up with debris in some places. Chunks of the wall and ceiling were scorched, leaving deep fissions in the classic-looking architecture. My gaze moved up towards the direction we were moving and I could see the large open room where Doctor Strange had first transported both Dan and me into the Sanctum.

As the hall opened up into the main room, Wong stood at the base of the large ruined staircase surveying the scene curiously. The gaping Hulk-sized hole was still there revealing the night sky far above us. Wong gestured from that hole over towards the other end of the room where yet another one, this one considerably smaller, was torn through the mansion's beautiful architecture.

"Our goal tonight is to try and repair the building and patch up these holes." Wong said, his stern voice finally breaking the silence in the large open room. I looked at both of the huge gaping holes and then clenched my left hand into a fist open and closed as if I was stretching it.

"And that's supposed to help protect us from the next attack?" I asked disbelievingly. Wong shook his head matter-of-factly and gestured upwards. A flash of golden light shone through the windows and the holes in the roof, and my mind finally clicked and told me that the glow signified the protective spells surrounding the Sanctum.

"No, I've already reinstated the spells and wards, and even added a few more for good measure. Our job is to merely repair the building itself." Wong explained. He offered a small smirk and pointed up through the Hulk-sized hole. "It's going to rain tonight and I'm sure Doctor Strange wouldn't want his grand staircase ruined."

"Or what's left of it, anyway…" Dan muttered good-naturedly. Wong chuckled lightly and then gestured at the Time Stone around my neck.

"We're going to use that. Your first lesson in learning to use it, should the need arise." The sorcerer said. I glanced down at the Eye around my neck and then looked back up at Wong wide-eyed.

"Really? I…I'm allowed to use it?" I asked. The easy light in Wong's eyes seemed to fade and his face turned instructive again.

"Only in the direst of situations," He said seriously, positioning his hands in a triangular fashion in front of his chest. "Now follow me…this is just going to be a small spell."

"Just to clarify…" Dan spoke up as I copied Wong's hand positions. "When you say the 'direst of situations'…would that be like when the alien people come back?"

"Yes, in a sense. But opening the Eye to use the Time Stone can also leave it vulnerable to attack. You will see in a moment…" Wong said, slowly and intricately showing me how to move my hands. As I copied him, I could feel the warmth of the pendant on my chest buzzing with built up energy. I looked away from Wong's instruction to see that the green glow emanated from the bronze Eye, but the heat did not reach the intensity from before.

"So am I going to reverse time or something to fix the damages?" I asked as I stared at the light in the middle of the necklace and moved my hands the way I had witnessed Strange use it.

"Yes, exactly…but…no! Wait –"

Wong's voice cut off suddenly, which I thought was odd and I looked back up at him worriedly. His normally stern and deadpanned expression was stuck in a shocked appearance, his mouth open but unmoving. I frowned deeply and glanced hurriedly down at the necklace then back up to the frozen sorcerer.

"Dan, is he messing around or…?"

I turned around to see that Dan was looking down toward my chest, his eyes wide with awe, but he too didn't move. I stepped closer to him and when there was no reaction from him, I waved my hand in front of his unblinking face. When I did so, I noticed a glowing green band hovering around my left wrist and I watched it as it slowly rotated.

"Oh God…" I muttered as I held my wrist up to examine the conjured glowing band. "I didn't see Strange _stop_ the spell…" I turned my hand around to watch the gradual motion of the band and as I moved it, I noticed movement in front of me.

Dan still stood frozen in place, but something in his face looked different. I tried inching my hand to the right once more and was shocked to see that his face grew steadily darker. Frowning, I continued the motion and finally realized that Dan had grown a beard right before my eyes.

"Woah, woah, woah…" I stopped quickly, halting my hand before any other changes came over my best friend. I turned around to face Wong and held my hand out in front of him curiously. This time I turned my wrist to the left and after a moment I noticed a slight change in him as well.

Wong grew slightly thinner and I even noticed that his cropped short hairstyle slowly grew out, covering his head in inches of dark hair. I stepped closer to him, amused as I watched the intimidating sorcerer age in reverse. A short goatee grew in seconds on his face and I let out a small laugh as I watched.

My humorous mood was cut short as I noticed that Wong's expression had also changed, now less shocked and leaning more towards irritated. He had also somehow moved closer to me and I quickly flicked my wrist in the opposite direction, causing the man to instantaneously return to his normal age. Or what I hoped was his normal age. Wong's hand clamped down tightly on my outstretched wrist as I finished and he moved my hands and forced me to face the staircase. He turned my hand back to the left and I sheepishly watched as the splintered wood gathered together to form solid stairs in milliseconds. I then allowed Wong to move my wrist up towards the ceiling and do the same thing there. Glass and metal framework from the large curiously shaped window collected from around the floor and staircase below, and before our eyes, the window was rapidly intact. Wong then turned me around once more and gestured towards the last gaping hole in the roof where Proxima Midnight had escaped hours before. I blinked at him unsurely and he shrugged, still clearly irritated, but motioned that I should fix the last one. I turned back and waved my wrist towards the left and just like before, the hole was fixed instantly.

When I was done, I glanced back to Wong and he held up his hands much like he had before when we opened the Eye. I copied his motion and there was a soft click as the Eye closed around my neck. The man stood over me with a deep frown etched in his face and I could only stare up at him in shock. When he still said nothing for several long seconds afterward, I turned around to see that Dan was touching his once more clean-shaven face in surprise.

"Um…I'm sorry?" I finally broke the confused silence.

"Next time…wait for my instruction before taking a rebellious leap forward, thinking you know it all."

"But I didn't –"

Wong shook his head in what I could tell was very evident disbelief and he disappeared up the newly refinished staircase without a word. I watched him go, biting my lip with cringing worry at my complete screw up at a first attempt of using the Time Stone.

"I think he's really worried about this whole thing…" Dan said after a moment. I lowered my gaze from the perfectly polished staircase and looked at Dan's apologetic face.

"Well yeah…I think we all have reason to be…" I said slightly sarcastically. Dan rolled his eyes lightheartedly and shook his head to elaborate.

"No, I mean…I think he's worrying about figuring out why Strange decided to give you the Stone in the first place. And then you just managed to create a magic fire staff thingy down there from absolutely nothing. We're_ all_ confused…" Dan said slowly. I frowned deeply in thought and turned away from him.

"I still don't know how I was even able to do that…" I muttered to myself. Dan touched my uninjured shoulder and made me face him again.

"Exactly! And just now it was like you somehow already knew how to work that thing!" He pointed at the Eye resting against my chest, once again dormant. I looked down at the bronze pendant thoughtfully for a second before I felt my jaw clench defensively.

"Well I must've learned it _somewhere_." I reasoned. Dan stared at me worriedly before he shrugged.

"We should probably read up on some more stuff before the next attack. Maybe we'll be able to backtrack and find what you used for that fire staff thing." He said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah…" I said slowly, not knowing what else to say about the matter. My head still felt a little foggy from the sedative and the majority of the afternoon spent knocked out. If our first battle for the Time Stone had ended this abruptly and with so many unanswered questions, what were we to expect for the next and hopefully final round?


	9. Pep Talk

**Hey everybody! Sorry this chapter may feel like it ends abruptly, but it's because what I originally had was SUPER long and I decided to split it up. I do want to let you know that I'm really excited for the chapter after this one and I may 'accidentally' post a little early next week so keep a lookout for it! Once again, please leave me a review or a message to let me know how I'm doing so far! Thank you :D**

When we reached the library room upstairs, we found that the stack of reading material Wong had set out before had doubled and nearly tripled in size. In addition to the sticky-note filled books and scrolls, a bright green Post-It was stuck to the top of the nearest stack with a message from Wong.

"It says, 'Meditating in the Mirror Dimension. Keep an ear out for signs of danger and study up on the new pages I've marked for you. Pop quiz when I get back. Wong.' Okay, so I guess our assumption was right to come up here." I said quietly. Dan shrugged and grabbed the closest book on the top of the stack and collapsed into one of the comfy armchairs.

"I doubt we'll get through all of these tonight…" I said slowly after a few minutes spent in silent reading. Dan made a noise of acknowledgement and the room was shrouded in stifling quietness only broken every few moments by the sound of pages turning or the shifting of the armchairs we were both in.

"I want to learn how to do those portal things. That sure could be pretty convenient." Dan said after another ten minutes or so. I nodded and then mimed out the motion we had seen Wong do several times.

"Did you see how many times he used it? Must be pretty high-level stuff." I said thoughtfully, glancing back down at the scroll lying over my lap. We were thrown back into studying mode once more for several minutes and when I finished the noted sections of my first scroll, I rolled it back up and reached for another one.

"This section talks about the ability to wield magical relics…" Dan said, thumbing through a couple of pages in his marked book. "It says here that there are all sorts of staffs, cloaks and even boots that sorcerers can use to aid them in their battles and whatnot."

"Well…I guess that could maybe explain my fire staff but I didn't really _wield_ it. It literally appeared in my hand, I'd never seen anything like it before that moment." I said thoughtfully. Dan read to himself silently for a moment and nodded knowingly. Then his eyes grew wide with recognition.

"Hey! There's a staff here that can turn into a snake! That's _gotta_ be the one that's in the cabinet downstairs!" He said excitedly. I got up from my chair to look at the section that he was reading in his book and nodded in amazement after I read the short section.

"Yeah…hey what's this 'Cloak of Levitation'?" I asked, reading it as well.

"It 'gives the wearer the ability to levitate'…duh…" Dan read out loud. When we were finished I looked up thoughtfully and then snapped my fingers.

"Strange had a cloak…" I said slowly. I flipped curiously to the next page, wondering if there was a picture of the relics but there was none. "Think that could be this one?"

"Well, if that snake staff thing is in here, it very well could be." Dan shrugged. He scanned over the next few paragraphs, with me looking over his shoulder.

"You've certainly had some good luck with your reading…my scrolls so far are just about meditation techniques and ways to calm your mind and look inward." I said, blanching to show my slight irritation. Dan glanced back up from his book and turned to face me before I could return to my armchair.

"Maybe you need to work on that. You were able to talk to Doctor Strange in that dream before, weren't you?"

I plopped back down in my armchair and looked at the scroll in front of me thoughtfully in an attempt to hide my suddenly worried gaze from Dan. After a moment he finally glanced back down at his own book. I took a breath and finally answered him.

"Yeah…I did." I said slowly. Dan looked up at me patiently. "But…I don't think that'll work anymore."

"Why not?" He asked gently. I raised my eyes levelly back up to his and shook my head worriedly.

"Proxima Midnight said something to me down there in the tunnels today. I asked her where Doctor Strange is and she said that if he turns up without the Time Stone he'll be killed. I think that's already happened because…I haven't heard from him again."

Dan and I fell into silence as the tension built in the room. Neither of us looked at our studying material, we only stared into space thinking of the possibilities.

"Then…then that means that Tony Stark would…I mean…he went with him, right?" Dan's voice broke off sharply with frightened emotion. I nodded slowly. The Time Stone suddenly seemed like a heavy weight on my chest.

"God…" I breathed.

"We can't think about that…it can't be for nothing…" Dan tried to say after another moment spent in long silence. Then I heard him laugh uncertainly and I glanced up at him in worried silence. "Besides…Proxima Midnight didn't know, right?"

"Well…no…" I admitted softly, fingering the edge of the scroll in my lap. "But she seemed pretty sure that if he wasn't already dead then he _would_ be."

"Then why not try talking to this Doctor Strange guy again?" Dan suggested. I frowned over at him and shifted my gaze around the room heatedly.

"What did I just say? He hasn't been in contact with me since that first night!"

"Yeah…but that contact is still there. What if…" Dan leaned over and touched the scroll in my lap. "You read up on that inner mind and meditation stuff and you were able to trace that contact back to the source?"

I stared at my friend thoughtfully for a moment and wondered if he was being serious. If he was, then maybe there really was a chance that I could figure out a way to reach Doctor Strange. And if I actually was able to reach the man who had bestowed the burden of protecting the Time Stone on me, the question was, _what exactly would I need to say to him?_

"I guess…I guess it's possible but Dan…I really don't know if that's a good idea. What if, like Wong said before…what if he's busy?"

"Busy?" Dan repeated with an odd confused expression. I nodded and then waved my left hand in the air as I elaborated.

"Busy as in, he's diverting the threat from us at the moment."

"You might need his knowledge to help figure out what we need to do to better prepare for the next time those freaks decide to attack us." Dan retaliated.

"True…but I think Wong has done pretty well to train us this far." I said. I glanced back down at the opened scroll in my lap and scanned the few worn paragraphs thoughtfully. I slumped my shoulders, cringing as my right one disturbed the throbbing pain of what had earlier been my impaled bicep. "Besides…I don't think I can reach Strange anyway."

"Why not?" Dan asked again gently. I clenched my jaw and then looked up at the ceiling worriedly.

"When we were trapped under that cave-in…I tried calling out to him for help. And…there was nothing."

Dan stared into space silently as he processed my words. When he finally did glance back up at me, his eyes were hardened.

"So you think he just left you and us to fend for ourselves then?"

"I don't know." I shook my head solemnly.

Dan shut the book in his lap with a dull thud and then reached for another book from the towering stack. He flipped through the yellowed pages quietly and stopped at one of the sticky notes. I watched him carefully for a bit before deciding that I should get back into my reading as well.

When I did finally look back down the waiting scroll, I forced myself to breathe deeply and calm my mind like the sections repeatedly tried to tell me. After breathing in and out for about ten seconds, I closed my eyes to the scribbles of words in my lap and tried as hard as I could to make my mind blank. I thought about Doctor Strange and how afraid I was about the magic and situation he had decided to put me in, and how I wished that he would come back and give me clear instructions on what I needed to do. I felt my heart race with the amount of anxiety that was building up and I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut tighter against the library around me. I forced myself to breathe in and out once more and then after a few seconds, my heart rate slowed, though the anxiety was still very much present.

Through the darkness behind my closed eyes, I mentally pictured a pathway leading away from my own mind. Feeling only a little stupid for trying this way of thinking, I mentally moved in that direction. There was no sound emanating from around me, only a suffocating silence that made my ears feel like they were clogged. Trying to hold on to my mental journey, I consciously kept up my slow and calming breathing technique.

_"Alright, let me ask you this one time….what master do you serve?!" _

I felt myself mentally stop as I heard a somewhat familiar voice through the silence. I nearly lost my control over the mind journey but quickly recovered from my surprise.

_"What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say, Jesus?!" _

Mentally I stayed frozen where I was, listening as yet another voice responded to the familiar voice's irritated question.

_"You're from Earth." _

My eyes widened with instant recognition in the darkness and I felt myself drift closer towards my destination.

_"I'm not from Earth, I'm from Missouri." _

I could dimly see a warm light forming around me and the voices grew closer. Feeling dizzy and slightly confused I blinked several times against the growing light. I could vaguely see the silhouettes of people standing around on what looked like the ruins of some ancient city. Before I could focus in on what I was actually seeing, a sharp blast of energy seemed to push me back and a door seemed to slam shut, barring me away from the light once more. I cried out mentally and reached out to hold onto something before I lost contact with my mental wandering.

"No – wait!" I cried out desperately as I mentally clawed to stay where I had somehow mind – drifted to. There was a split second of silence and then a hand gripped mine through the darkness and there was suddenly a soft golden glow cast around me. I was floating lazily in midair, and that only did more to add to the confusion in my strained mind. I chanced a glance up to see that the hand grasping my wrist led up to none other than Doctor Strange himself. When I noticed his stern gaze on me, I immediately started babbling, having forgotten literally everything I had planned to ask and say to the magician.

"I can't believe it…Doctor Strange?! It's really you right? I mean…I was trying really hard to reach you and all but I didn't think it would really work…It's probably _not_ working but I don't – listen…there was this alien woman named Proxima Midnight, right? And she was after this Stone around my neck here…and she was really close to getting it and probably killing us all and then Bruce Banner showed up and War Machine and somehow we were able to get her to leave – but she'll definitely be back…"

"I see you've found a way to finally make contact with me. I must say, you took me by surprise. There are very few, if any, who can even attempt to penetrate my mental defenses." He said bluntly, interrupting my incoherent explanation of what our battle with Proxima Midnight had been like.

"Y-yeah…" I said, frowning to myself. "I don't really know exactly how it worked, but Dan told me to try…so I…so I did…"

"I'm impressed." Strange said with a tiny smirk. I scoffed ironically.

"Sir…I'm utterly failing at protecting this thing you gave me…can't you take it back or something?" I asked quickly, reaching with the hand that Strange wasn't currently holding to touch the Eye floating a few inches above my chest in the supernatural zero-gravity going on around me.

"You seem to have survived your first encounter well enough." He said. I grabbed the pendant from the air in front of me and pushed it back down to my chest lightly, nodding down to where my right arm was still wrapped up from my injury in my mental state.

"Right…" I said sarcastically. I looked up at him pleadingly. "You have to tell me what to do…I'm trying to learn the tricks Wong has been teaching us, and it's really challenging, but somehow I end up being able to do things that he hasn't even taught me! Even Wong is questioning how and why I'm managing to do things that I shouldn't be able to do… Sir, I just don't feel ready enough to…"

"Alexander…I wouldn't have chosen you to protect the Time Stone in this reality if I didn't think that there was some slim chance that it was possible for it to stay out of the wrong hands. Just keep doing what you're doing and things will turn out how they're going to turn out…I've already done all that I am metaphysically able to do to help you. " Strange said seriously. I stared up at him desperately.

"You can't teach me _anything_ else? Please, I'm begging you!" I said, suddenly embarrassed at how much I was sounding like the kid I was. Strange regarded me carefully for a moment and then shook his head.

"It looks like you're already well on your way to becoming a full-fledged sorcerer. You're already conjuring mystical elemental weapons, acting on impulse, and even meddling with Time. You really do catch on pretty quickly."

I blinked up at the seemingly omniscient wizard floating in front of me. He was reading me and my actions like a book and he thought that I was totally and completely ready for whatever threat was about to hit me. I suddenly felt my anxiety well up once more as if in reply.

"You can't just send me away with nothing! Look how far I've come to ask you for your help! Where exactly are you right now? And was that Tony Stark I heard just a minute ago?"

"Yes…and at the moment we're all fine. Some others have joined our ranks to fight off the threat…"

"What's the threat? Who is behind all of these alien people attacking us?" I blurted out. Strange regarded me thoughtfully for a moment and then sighed as he tried to condense the situation.

"Okay… so Bruce Banner told you that there are more Infinity Stones similar to the one I entrusted to you. Currently, we know that this guy, Thanos, has_ two_ of the six Infinity Stones. We're attempting to prevent him from retrieving all of these Stones, because if he does…"

"Then everything is lost." I finish for him slowly in realization. I took a deep breath as I suddenly realized how dire the situation was and how much bigger it was than I had originally thought. The whole time I had thought it was all up to me and me alone…

"Right." Strange confirmed softly, tightening his grip on my wrist. I looked back up at him and noticed that his stern expression had softened to understanding. "You need to get back now, Alex. We both have our own battles we need to prepare for."

"Right." I repeated.

"Do you need help with your return?" Strange offered. I shook my head numbly and then looked up to him one last time.

"Promise you'll still be here if I need you? That Proxima Midnight woman said that Thanos would kill you if you didn't have the Stone…" I said, my hand still wrapped tightly around the pendant on my chest.

"I'm sure he'll try." He chuckled darkly as he released his hold on my wrist. The faint golden light that had lit the space around us winked out of existence and I felt myself shoot backwards the way I had come. The darkness and overwhelming silence sped by so quickly that it felt like my ears would pop and my lungs would burst. When the dizzying intensity worsened to the point where I thought my mind was going to tear apart, the feeling was over and I was motionless once more. I chanced a small inhale of breath and my chest hitched painfully, pulling me forward and onto the hardwood floor in front of me.

"Alex?" Dan asked, shoving the book that he had been reading into the armchair he had just leapt up from. "Alex, what happened?"

I gasped in lungfuls of air, finally opening my eyes to the warm light of the lamplit library in the Sanctum Sanctorum.

"I uh…I did what you suggested…" I stammered uncertainly. My mind was a whirl of dizziness and I blinked several times to try and clear the sensation from my head.

"You got through to him?" Dan asked in disbelief. I nodded then immediately squeezed my eyes shut as the movement jarred the dizziness back with a stab of pain.

"What's going on? What did he say?" Dan pushed me after a moment. I finally focused my gaze on the wall in front of me and when I was sure that I had my hyperventilating under control, I slowly climbed back up into my armchair and began to relate the encounter to him.


	10. Pop Quiz

"Thanos…" I muttered once we had fallen into an unnerved and thoughtful silence. Dan looked slowly back at the stack of books as I looked back over my shoulder at the dimly lit window behind me.

"Do you think there's anything on him in these texts?" He asked doubtfully. I shrugged deeply, wincing as I caught myself moving my extremely sore arm again.

"I don't know, but I still feel awfully underprepared for when we meet him. If he's any worse than the other guys we've seen, and I'm pretty positive that he is…" I trailed off, leaving the rest of my sentence hanging in the open and Dan nodded in awed understanding.

"Strange said that we were doing okay so far…right? As long as we try to stay on track with our speed training maybe we'll actually be able to pull this whole thing off." Dan said hopefully. His expression betrayed his sunny predictions and I shook my head with a dry smirk.

"Sure."

As if to conclude our downcast hopes, there was a low rumble that shook throughout the calm atmosphere of the library. I looked around hurriedly, the mental exhaustion from my mind trip still fresh in my body. Dan had thankfully instinctively flashed his golden mandalas into position but my head ached so terribly that it took mine a moment to flare to life over my fists. Both of us stared around wildly looking for the source of the quieting rumble and just like that, the commotion was over. Dan and I stood there almost back to back scanning the room around us for several long moments before relenting to stand down.

"What was that?" I asked rhetorically, still glancing around for anything that looked out of place in the warm light of the lamps scattering the library. Dan took a step away from me and the slight movement of his foot on the wood floor beneath us squelched oddly.

"I don't know…but it didn't sound like one of those alien spaceships that time…" He said quietly. I shot a look at the floor as Dan took another step towards his armchair to peer around of the large bookshelves. The wood rippled slightly when his slippered foot left the surface and I squinted down at it critically as his foot made another soft squelching noise when it reached its new standing spot.

"Um…Daniel?" I asked, pointing down at his feet. He hesitated before he took another step and turned around to see what I was referring to. When he followed the direction I was looking, he frowned deeply in confusion and tapped his foot on the polished wooden floor once more. Ripples spread slowly from where his foot lightly hit the surface and my strained mind finally registered what was going on.

"It's wet." I said softly. "The floor is wet."

"…Why?" Dan asked, a confused and slightly disgusted look on his face. I shook my head and then glanced down at my own slippered feet. I lightly traced my right foot in a wide semicircle in front of me and wasn't surprised when an inch or so of liquid rippled and signified the disruption on the floor.

The confused moment was then interrupted by the sound of the library door slamming shut joltingly past the numerous shelves across the room. Dan and I looked in the direction of the noise then immediately rushed around the corner, splashing in the inches of water that covered the wooden floor to see the closed door. Just out of curiosity, I tried the doorknob and was only a fraction of surprised to find that we were locked in the vast library. I turned around to face Dan's worried expression with an amused smirk of my own.

"Yeah…we're locked in here. Guess Wong is telling us that he won't let us leave until we get some actual studying done." I quipped lightly. Dan looked unsure as he glanced down at the bronze doorknob behind me.

"Then why is the room filling up with water?" He asked, placing a hand sarcastically on his hip. I eyeballed the floor and noticed that the water level had risen up nearly to our ankles in the few moments since we'd noticed the phenomenon.

"I'm not sure." I said, feigning nonchalance. Dan moved away from the locked library door and trekked back over toward the small sitting area where we had been reading. I slowly followed him, sloshing through the four or five inches of cool water, frowning in confusion and wonder at the situation. By the time I had reached Dan's side where he was flipping hurriedly through a few of the books in the stack, the water level had risen to above my ankles and my thin slippers were soaked and weighing down my feet.

"There has to be something in here we can find to reverse this..." Dan muttered, slinging through books and scrolls in search of answers. I watched him in stunned silence for a few seconds and then turned around to survey the room. The water was seeping upward, nearly halfway covering the lowest shelves of books on the floor level. The water had crawled up and covered the legs of the armchairs by our side, readying to seep into the soft, comfortable cushions of the furniture.

"Hey…this wasn't here before." I said thoughtfully as I nearly waded over to a nearby bookshelf. Dan looked back in my direction, a disbelieving look on his face.

"Alex, what are you doing? _Get back here and help me!"_

I reached the shelf by one of the wall lamps where I had noticed a brief shine of light. I reached upward and grasped the small object responsible for catching my eye and I studied it, squinting in confusion at the oddly designed ring in my palm.

"Whatever…you're no help at all!" Dan shouted angrily, turning back to his books. I ignored him as I tried to place where I had seen the two-fingered ring before. I could feel that the water level had started to rise slightly quicker than before, already sloshing around my knees.

"Hey Dan…look for anything about an artifact that looks like this." I said, my voice strangely calm as I turned around and headed back to him. He frantically looked up and tried to take the ring from me but his fumbling hands knocked it out of my palm and into the rising water that pooled near our waists by this point.

"Oh my God…where did it go?!" Dan exclaimed, his voice shaking.

I fixed him with a steely, annoyed look before I leaned over and felt around on the slick wooden floor underwater by my side where the small splash had sounded. My brow suddenly furrowed with worry and I ducked my head underneath the surface and opened my eyes to scan the floor better. It was eerily silent under the water, and I waded around carefully for a moment, dragging my hand along the wooden floor before my fingers finally grasped the small ring. I stood back up and noticed that in just the mere moments I had been looking for the ring, the water level had reached my armpits. Dan was standing in one of the armchairs holding the book on artifacts, flipping hurriedly through the pages.

"Find anything yet?!" I called up to him quickly. In the armchair, the water only came up to his midsection and I offered the ring up for him to examine as he looked for anything about it. He shook his head, muttering to himself incoherently. _"Daniel!"_

"Shut up for a second, _Alexander_…" He retorted, mocking my calling him by his full name. "I can't think with this much pressure!"

"Calm down first and then think! We've got all the time in the world, here!" I said bitingly. His jaw clenched angrily and his page turning grew only slightly slower as he stopped to scan the passages in front of him. I kicked off of the floor and floated lazily on my back to show him that we weren't in any immediate danger. "See? We're good."

"We are _not_ good." Dan muttered angrily as he nodded toward the other arm chair bobbing alongside him. Books and scrolls littered the water's surface along with the table with the lamp on it which had come unplugged.

"Worse comes to worse, we can kick a window open or something." I suggested lightly. I floated in the water, scanning the ring and kicking myself for not remembering where I had seen it before.

"It's gotta be a Sling Ring!" Dan blurted out, holding the book up over the water where it had risen up to his shoulders as he still stood in the armchair.

"A Sling Ring?" I repeated softly, the name somehow and unexplainably familiar to me. "That sounds like a really odd name for an 'ancient artifact' but…okay. That has to be it."

Dan looked at me over the book where he held it and waved me over towards him. The frantic motion that he made caused the armchair's wooden legs to slide on the slick, wet wooden floor beneath him and he was tossed into the water with a surprised cry.

"Alex! Alex, we need to hurry!" He shouted once he had broken the surface. He swan over to me, and I scrambled to touch the floor with my slippered feet but the water was too deep.

"Come on! Maybe we can kick the door in…" I called, closing my fist around the Sling Ring and leading the way back towards the library entrance, past floating ruined books and scrolls. The water was almost level with the lamps imbedded in the walls and I knew that the wiring would probably short-circuit at any second, casting us in complete darkness.

We reached the door, where only a foot or two of the door was exposed above the surface of the water and I quickly dove down to try the knob once more. I braced my feet against the heavy wooden door and the sliver of wall beside it and pulled on the small handle with as much strength as I could muster, my injured shoulder screaming with white hot pain. After I knew that wouldn't work, I swam down to the floor and felt around the bottom of the door to see if the flow of water was seeping through there. I slipped the Sling Ring on the first two fingers on my left hand and reached underneath the bottom of the door with my right. My eyes widened in surprise as I oddly felt the water just end and shift to dry air on the opposite side of the door. A sharp pain landed on my outstretched fingers and I let out a shout of protest as I jerked my hand away from the bottom of the door and kicked back up to the water's surface.

_"What the hell?!"_ I shouted once I'd caught my breath. Dan looked at me worriedly from where he had his fists pressed against the door, and I noticed that we only had another three feet or so of space before the room was fully submerged.

"What happened?!" He stammered, spitting water out of his mouth as he was frantically treading water.

"Something on the other side of the door…" I said roughly, aiming a firm kick against the wooden door before swimming across the room back toward where the armchairs and table bobbed on the surface. I swam past the floating furniture and threw the random books out of my path as I went for the window. The heavy drapes floated outwards, exposing the window for me and I oddly thought that the long haunting looking drapes opened out toward me as if to pull me into a crushing hug. I shook my head to clear it, panting with the effort of my speedy swim.

As I reached the window, I prepared to duck under the water but before I could, a rushing wave shot past me and then retreated. The extended drapes fell back to the sides of the large picture window I was floating in front of, and I glanced around to see that Dan floated behind me, his arms glowing with golden energy as he held back the water.

"_Go!_ Do what you're gonna do, Alex…I can't hold it for long!" He shouted.

I dove forward and conjured up one of the glowing shields around my right fist. Wincing as I prepared for the impact, I punched my fist forward and watched as my shield went flying against the window. I expected it to shatter straight through the windowpane and I turned away to brace myself for shards of glass and debris. When it didn't, I conjured up another one and repeated the motion. This time I watched as my golden mandala shattered on impact, a bright glow of orange overtaking my spell.

"No…" I breathed as I floated there in disbelief. I swam forward and felt my feet touch down on the three feet or so of dry ground against the window. I placed my right fist against the windowpane and conjured up another shield. I pulled back and let out a cry of agonizing pain as the golden shield dissolved on impact, leaving my bare fist to slam against the thick glass. I turned around, my hand on fire as Dan finally let the torrent of water go, submerging me back into its depths instantly.

I opened my eyes under the water and kicked up from the floor and reached the ceiling, where there was less than a foot of air left. Dan was there too, his shields conjured up and glowing by his sides.

"We can't break through the walls or the door…we're trapped." I panted, my hand and shoulder burning numbly with pain. Dan nodded wordlessly and then pointed to the double ring on my left hand.

"Try to use it! You knew how to work the Time –" Dan said before the water finished rising, throwing us into overwhelming silence.

The Time Stone.

I glanced down at the pendant around my neck and prepared to position my hands in front of my chest. As I tried to place my fingers the way I had seen both Doctor Strange and Wong do previously, my right hand flashed with agonizing pain. I winced and resisted from physically crying out, not wanting to release the last little bit of air I held in my lungs. So I focused on the ring resting on my left hand. Dan floated by my side, watching me hopefully, occasionally attempting to throw his own glowing shields at the windowpane with the same result that I'd had. I even saw a flash of red and a whip like Wong had used against Proxima Midnight wrapped around the handle of the window. Dan held onto the other end of the whip, tugging at it uselessly to try and pry the window open.

I centered myself carefully, the encounter I'd had with Strange fresh in my mind. He knew everything that was happening to me, and it even amused him how I had been able to do things without being properly taught. I closed my eyes and thought back to when I had first met him on the street during the first alien invasion, recalling how he had given me the Time Stone and then swirled a portal into existence and sent us through it. My eyes shot open.

A portal.

I looked down at the ring once more, feeling my chest burn with the lack of breath that I had. I slowly lifted the left hand with the ring on it, unsure of exactly how I was doing it. I then raised my right arm, feeling the white hot pain coursing through it as it dragged through the still water. I swirled my hand in wide circles in front of me as I faced the window, imagining a portal there. After a few seconds I then thought back to any movie or science fiction novel I had ever read.

_Imagine a place…_

I continued the slow methodical movement of my injured arm and pictured where I wanted the portal to take us. Remembering the warning Wong had given us earlier about not leaving the house, I pictured the grand staircase that I had repaired just an hour or so before. Seconds later a swirl of golden light materialized over the window, spreading out into a large disc. I strained my mind further, picturing the polished wood of the staircase and the warm lamplight that lit the room downstairs around it. The huge window with the odd symbol above it shone down over the staircase, whole once more because of my repairs with the Time Stone.

I suddenly felt a strong force slam into my back and I mentally woke up, seeing that the portal conjuring had been a success and the grand staircase had materialized in the midst of the swirling portal before me. Dan shoved me forward and I instantly swam to reach the portal and felt the water disappear from around us as we broke through the golden light.

With what little air I had left in my chest, I let out a surprised shout as my left shoulder struck the wooden stairs, and tucked myself into a tight ball as I tumbled down to the ground floor. Dan fell just a moment after me and I lay there for a second in confusion and pain before I looked back up at the portal I had conjured halfway down the stairs. Looking up at the golden portal was like looking at a porthole from a boat, blue with the water we had just escaped from. I leaned forward and reversed the motion I had used to conjure the portal and I wasn't surprised when seconds later, the portal had vanished. Wong was revealed standing at the top of the stairs, a speculative expression on his face as he descended the steps.

"Took you both long enough." He said sarcastically as he stood over our coughing and sputtering.

"Was…was that the pop quiz?" Dan asked between heaving breaths and coughing up water. I looked up to see Wong's confirming smirk.

"Did we pass?" I added with a daring look in my eye. Wong's smirk fell slightly as he regarded me and then he nodded.

"You succeeded in showing me how exactly you're able to do things without learning them." He said cryptically. I watched him, waiting for him to explain further but when he moved to leave us in the foyer without another word, I climbed to my feet with a grunt of pain to follow him.

"And how_ am_ I able to do that? Because I genuinely still have no idea." I said, grabbing onto his shoulder with my left hand. He turned around to face me and I slowly removed my hand at his stern glance. "Please."

The sorcerer studied me knowingly before he sighed heavily and crossed his arms in front of himself. He looked me up and down, sopping wet and dripping water all throughout the foyer and hallway. When he finally spoke, it was in barely a whisper.

"You're Strange."


	11. Wong's Perception

_"You're Strange."_

I stared at Wong, not comprehending what he meant. He simply stood over me, staring almost through me with his equally critical gaze. I looked back to Dan who had finally climbed to his feet, bracing himself wearily against the railing of the grand staircase. When I turned around again Wong had somehow removed the Sling Ring from my left hand and was holding it in his palm before me.

"I don't recall ever teaching you how to use this in any of our lessons and I doubt you got far enough in your reading to learn the proper technique." He said accusingly. I stared at the oddly shaped ring in his hand and tried to form some sort of response.

"I saw –"

"And the same happened when I tried to show you how to activate the Time Stone. Before I could show you, you somehow were able to figure it out on your own." He scratched lightly at his stubbly chin and I refrained from smirking at the memory of a young Wong.

"Don't forget the weird fire weapon he made down in the tunnel today…" Dan added softly. I turned back to throw a stressed out glance his way which he returned sheepishly.

"Okay…" I started to say as I looked back up at Wong's knowing glance. "So what exactly are you saying? That I'm a fast learner and that basically being a sorcerer is my destiny and I'm already fully equipped with knowledge of spells and whatnot before I'm even taught?"

"No." Wong said simply. "I think Strange chose you yesterday because you were the nearest human being that he could latch a part of himself onto in order to ensure that he would know the true whereabouts of the Time Stone while he physically was away."

"Are you trying to say…" I said, holding my pained right arm out in front of me as I stammered. "…Doctor Strange is possessing me?!"

Wong was silent as he studied me and I shifted uncomfortably under his seemingly 'all-seeing' expression. Dan moved away from the stair railing and looked me up and down as well, stopping his gaze on the Time Stone.

"Can you try to do anything else to see if Wong is right? Something so random and magically advanced that even Wong can't copy it?" Dan dared me lightheartedly. I looked up at Wong who still eyed me thoughtfully and shook my sopping wet sleeves out, scattering drops of water all over the floor.

"Um…I really doubt it…" I said slowly, then shrugged as I glanced down at the Time Stone. "But I think I might be able to help with the mess we just made."

I clasped my left hand onto a fist and then hesitated as I tried to do the same with my right one. I winced painfully at the damage I had done to my fist when I had attempted to bust the upstairs library window out. Wong gently stepped forward and motioned for me to offer him my injured fist. He examined it briefly before patting the top of it lightly.

"It's not broken, just bruised." He assured me. I raised my eyebrows in mock understanding, still not forgiving him for the deadly pop quiz he had put both me and Dan through just a few moments ago. When Wong nodded for me to continue what I had been about to do, I slowly moved my right hand into a loose fist and then opened both hands into the shape of the Eye hanging around my neck. I carefully twitched my fingers and exhaled in relief as the Time Stone was revealed through the bronze pendant with a soft click.

"I don't want a beard this time Alex, so be careful." Dan warned me lightly as he turned to face me fully. I studied the glowing green band revolving around my wrist and slowly waved my hand to the left, watching in awe as Dan's 'karate' robes dried off instantly. The water that had been splashed all throughout the hall also dissipated into the air and I then twisted my hand around to see if I could perform the magic on myself. The heavy weight of my robes instantly lifted as I was proven correct and my clothes dried. With a smug smirk on my face I glanced back over at Wong who was nodding with approval.

"Alright…guess I'll close this up for now before I get in trouble again." I said before I repeated the motion in front of me. The green glow vanished as the Eye closed and I stood triumphantly in the hallway, surveying the wooden floors to see if I had missed a spot.

"Nice job Alex!" Dan congratulated me, breaking the silence that had fallen over the three of us. I flashed him a grateful smirk.

"Thanks, man." I muttered with embarrassment. My demeanor fell as I suddenly remembered the ruined library upstairs. I thumbed over my shoulder, staring at Wong with dismay. "Hey, do we need to clean up the library too? It was kinda under –"

"No. I have already taken care of that." Wong smiled knowingly. I eyed him suspiciously before he continued. "What I would like you both to do is follow me to the rec room where you will spend the next few hours practicing with your Sling Rings. Conjuring portals will need to become second nature to you if you are to become full – fledged sorcerers once this threat is defeated."

I took the ring back from Wong's outstretched hand and watched with amusement as he produced another identical one from his sleeve to give to Dan. When Wong turned his back to lead us down the hall toward the room we had practiced in before, Dan's face was an instant grin of excitement. I shook my head with a smirk and followed Wong, knowing how elated Dan was that we were finally able to be trained together.

I gritted my teeth against the soreness running up and down my right arm from my knuckles to my bandaged bicep. The repetitive motions of swirling portals into and out of existence for an hour and a half straight had long since dulled my excitement for the magical lesson.

* * *

"Now Alex, show me the street corner where you and Daniel hid yesterday." Wong said quickly. He had been quizzing us randomly, naming off places and demanding we procure a portal to the said place. So far I had been called to open portals into the Midtown School of Science and Technology – which had been dark and dormant at the late hour – and also places I had never been to before like Paris, France – where I conjured up a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower since that was the quickest vision that had popped into my head. Dan had fared only slightly better, having showed me and Wong his aunt's beach house that he had mentioned before, and the New York Zoo where he had volunteered some of his time over the past two summers.

"Sure thing…" I said, masking my weariness as I forced my sore arm into a wide arcing motion, visualizing the street corner where I had met Doctor Strange the day before. I concentrated as hard as I could then faltered when the portal didn't appear as quickly as I hoped. I then sighed in relief as a swirl of golden sparks appeared, expanding into a circle wide enough for a person to walk through.

The corner of the alley where Dan and I had hidden yesterday was in perfect view, as was the small piece of sidewalk where I had seen Strange fall from the side of the building. One of the street signs had been broken in the battle from yesterday and all that was left of it was the bottom half of the metal pole sticking out of the concrete. The debris from the building above us had already been cleared away as had the numerous wrecked vehicles that had previously lined the street. The street lights that hadn't been damaged lit the street where only a few pedestrians lingered, and cars whizzed by in a surprisingly calm manner for a night in New York.

"They've already cleaned up the damage from yesterday…" Dan commented slowly, stating the obvious and breaking the silence that had fallen over the three of us. Wong nodded knowingly and motioned for me to dissolve my conjured portal.

"Yes, Tony Stark supplies a cleanup team for situations such as this. They're usually the very first on the scene after a situation." The sorcerer explained casually. I raised my eyebrows in wonder at the new information.

"Oh. So why didn't they come and fix the holes in the roof here?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Because we sorcerers value our privacy." Wong replied, catching my challenging glance. "And Strange has never wanted to get involved with the famed Stark's antics and arrogance, so he's prohibited entrance to any of those even associated with the man."

"Wow, that's pretty cold." Dan said, eyebrows raised in amusement. Wong nodded dismissively.

"The less that is known of our presence, the better. It's always been that way." Wong said deeply.

"I don't blame powerful wizards for wanting to keep their business secretive. That's how it always goes in Harry Potter." Dan said lightly. I pinched the bridge of my nose in embarrassment as Wong frowned in further annoyance.

"Harry Potter is fiction. This is real. Get it together." I said under my breath before Wong could comment. Dan shrugged apologetically and turned to see what Wong would order him to conjure up next.

"I think that's enough for one night. You boys won't be worth any help at all with no rest. I'll proceed to check over the wards and update the other Sanctums on what's going on. They'll help me monitor the whereabouts of the Black Order if they decide to come near this vicinity again." Wong explained, being eerily calm despite the terrifying situation ahead.

"Well…thanks Wong. You're not gonna surprise us with another pop quiz or anything in the middle of the night, are you?" I said only slightly jokingly as I slipped my Sling Ring off of my left hand and handed it back to Wong who immediately shook his head.

"Keep your Sling Rings. You may need them at a moment's notice." He said sternly. Dan offered me a reluctant glance.

"Guess that means we should stay on our toes. Next pop quiz might involve fire and brimstone." He quipped sarcastically as he led the way down the hallway to our rooms.

"Oh no. There are more terrible trials that I could put you through than that." Wong called darkly after us. I exchanged a terrified glance with Dan, not enjoying Wong's version of joking at all.


	12. The Haunted Sanctum

**So, a little disclaimer. In case ya'll haven't noticed, I am using information from both the movies AND the comics. So some of the relics and whatnot are coming from some of the comics I've read. If anyone can guess what else I've pulled from the comics, leave me a review or send me a message and I'll let you know if you're right! Enjoy :D**

Once I had gotten cleaned up and settled into the guest room to try and rest, I found that I couldn't. My nerves were alive with worry and fear and leftover adrenaline from the events of the long day. I was also afraid of what dreams I might have if I even found that I was able to sleep. So after about thirty or so minutes of lying perfectly still and staring up at the darkened ceiling of the extravagant guest room, I threw my covers off and headed quietly down the hall. I found my way around the mansion easily and headed up the staircase toward the library in search of some reading material that I could study in my sleepless state.

As I came upon the closed door of the library, I stopped myself in remembrance of the submerged room. I took a brief moment to get down on my knees and feel underneath the door to see if it was still filled with the magically conjured water. When my fingers brushed against the dry wooden floor on the other side of the door, I climbed back to my feet and slowly opened the door into the library.

Just as Wong had said, he had taken care of everything. The shelves and furniture were all in their designated spaces, and even the books that I had assumed were ruined from the water damage were neatly stacked and lined up back on the numerous shelves around the room. I continued my slow shuffle around the shelves and came upon the small sitting area where Dan and I had attempted our studying and wasn't surprised to see that our stack of reading material had returned to its original place as if nothing had ever happened.

"Weirder and weirder…" I muttered to myself as I stopped at the stack of books and picked through them until I found something that I thought would be useful to learn for combat. I grabbed a book that had sticky notes marked on pages referencing ancient magical uprisings and other dimensions that the sorcerers had traveled to over the years. I peered through another few books and found the one that Dan had been reading about the ancient relics. I took both of them and headed back out of the library and down the stairs to see if I could get some quick studying in before my exhaustion would finally and hopefully take over me.

Heading back down the staircase in the darkened mansion, the calming silence unsettled me. I looked around at the dark, shadowy corners as I descended the stairs with my books tucked underneath my injured right arm so that my good left arm was free. The lamps and warm lights were still glowing around the mansion, but they were toned down oddly to create a sleepy atmosphere. When I reached the last step of the grand staircase and prepared to step onto the ground floor, I heard a sound like murmuring voices down the hall and toward the kitchen.

I rounded the banister in the opposite direction of the hallway where mine and Dan's rooms were housed and peered down the dark hallway toward the kitchen, listening intently for what I thought was my imagination. When the low voices echoed down the hall once more, I took a further step in that direction.

"Wong? Is that you?" I called hesitantly. The voices hushed almost as soon as the first syllable left my mouth and I suddenly grew worried. If Wong had been speaking with someone important, I probably shouldn't have interrupted. If my guess had been wrong, and I had just spoken out to some unknown, unwanted visitors…I had very obviously announced my presence to them.

When nothing happened for the next several seconds, my nerves shot into terror mode once more. Part of me wanted to go and investigate the source of the voices down the hall, but the other part was torn and wanted to go back upstairs or to my room where it was safe. I gently set the two books I had collected down on the bottom step of the staircase and let curiosity get the better of me.

"Hello?" I called out again, shifting my hands into nervous fists in preparation of some unknown foe.

The further I inched down the darkened hallway, the tighter the air felt. I consciously made myself breathe silently, trying to make as little sound as I possibly could. I passed by the quiet, looming cabinets of artifacts and fancy sorcerer stuff, keeping my eyes straight ahead and scanning for anything or anyone. As I approached a closed door past the kitchen and toward the end of the hallway, I noticed there was a tightness in my head now like the beginnings of a migraine. I stopped at the doorway, spotting a dim but definitely present glow from the underside of the door.

"If anybody is in there…" I started to say softly and warningly. Again, as soon as the first sound emanated from my throat, whatever was behind the door made a sound like a cannon firing and then the glow from the door vanished. I visibly jumped about a foot in the air and clenched a hand over my startled heart. I conjured up a bright golden shield over my remaining hand and then cleared my throat to center myself before I took my hand from my chest and placed it on the door handle.

"What are you doing?"

I jumped again as a voice sounded from right behind me and I whirled around with my mandala shield and threw it instinctively at the shape a few yards behind me. Another shield flashed into view, shattering mine, and in the glow, I recognized Wong's amused expression.

"Wong! Oh my God…what was that?! Were you in there talking to someone?!" I exploded as soon as I'd caught my breath. Wong stepped forward, seemed to examine the door and then shook his head.

"I wasn't," He said slowly as he reached past me and took the door handle in his own hand to twist it open. "But that's because…"

He flicked the door open to reveal an ordinary broom closet. Literally half a dozen or so brooms and mops were stacked and leaning against the opposite wall of the closet and a worn bucket or too was wheeled alongside them. There didn't even appear to be a lightbulb to light the closet because it was so small. I studied the closet unenthusiastically then turned an accusing glance to the sorcerer beside me.

"It's a broom closet." I finished for him. He smirked triumphantly before firmly clicking the door shut again. "But it's not _just_ a broom closet, is it?"

"Oh, it is." Wong said simply, turning to walk back down the hallway, expecting me to follow him. I looked back at the door and opened it once more to confirm what he said. The brooms, buckets and spare cleaning supplies remained where they had been seconds before. I frowned and re-closed the door before finally turning back around to follow Wong who was moving slowly back down the hall. He glanced side to side at each of the silent cabinets lining the hallway as if checking order over them.

"You sure there aren't any more of those 'portals to Hell' around here? You said the fridge is one…"

"It would take you a hundred lifetimes to hunt up all of the secrets hidden in this house." Wong said darkly. I frowned deeply after him and then jumped as another sound like cannon fire echoed from the other side of the house. Wong stopped at the end of the hall and watched me as I looked wildly in the direction of the sound.

"That was what was in that closet just a second ago. It moved." I guessed fearfully. Wong gave me a brief, slow nod in confirmation and I brushed by him to walk past the staircase towards another great room that branched off into another hallway. Sensing Wong following casually behind me, I noticed that I could also hear the hushed voices again.

_"Following us…"_

_"Stupid boy…"_

_"What do they think they're doing?" _

I stopped about halfway down the hall where a door to my right was left slightly ajar into what looked like it could be a parlor or some fancy sitting room. That dull glow peeked out from the small inch that the door was open and I glanced back to Wong who was still watching me in calm amusement, his arms crossed over his chest. I clenched my jaw playfully and placed my hand on the doorknob, listening carefully to the voices on the other side of the door.

"Alright…you've got my curiosity perked, now show yourselves!" I said loudly as I jerked the door open. Another blast of cannon fire rang in my ears, followed by a bright flash that blinded me. What felt like a blast of frigid air hit me as something or 'somethings' rushed past me, unseen. My hand released the doorknob so quickly it was like I'd been electrocuted and my mouth was open wide as I looked in the direction that the rush of air had gone. Wong stepped aside as the voices disappeared around the corner of the hall to find another place to hide. I stood frozen to the spot, blinking away the intense glow that had temporarily blinded me.

"What…was that?!" I exclaimed, my voice rising considerably in confusion and almost terror. Wong chuckled and patted my uninjured shoulder reassuringly before he turned and headed away from me.

"Some things are better off left to pointlessness."

* * *

I awoke a few hours later to a jolt of adrenaline which caused me to sit upright in half a second, pain shooting up my injured right arm in the process. I looked around hurriedly for some kind of threat in my room, listening intently for the thing that had caused me to wake up so suddenly. I glanced down at the few books scattered on top of the bed's comforter from where I'd been reading and studying them. The lamp by my side on the nightstand still cast the guest room in a warm glow, while the shades covering the wall on my other side remained pulled closed over the window.

I reached quickly for my phone where it rested on the nightstand and I checked the time, seeing that I had only been asleep for a little over two hours at the most. I stood up from the bed and crossed over to the door, my phone still in my hand as I carefully opened the door a few inches and then stuck my head out into the hallway to peer outside my room.

"…Hello?" I called out softly, my voice barely audible for fear that something or someone would come rushing down the hall towards me. When I looked in the other direction, I noticed a figure standing quietly in the middle of the hall, gazing into one of the glass cabinets lining the wall. I edged my door open a little wider and squinted down the hallway to see who it was.

"It's just me." Dan's voice called to me quietly after a few seconds. I headed down the hall towards my best friend, sensing his tension in the early hours of the morning.

"What's wrong, man?" I asked in confused worry when I reached his side. He scratched at his light colored hair, not tearing his gaze away from the cabinet in front of him.

"I had a nightmare a little bit ago and couldn't go back to sleep so I've been texting my mom. She's worried sick about us and wants to know where we are. Following Wong's advice, I just told her I was safe but that I can't come home right now…"

He wouldn't look at me as he spoke and for good reason. I pressed a hand to my forehead and mimicked his heavy sigh. I shook my head when he finally finished speaking.

"Dan…_why?_ You_ knew_ you'd get put into this situation. I haven't been texting anyone. I haven't had the mental power to even think about anything else other than –"

"I know, I know!" Dan said, his voice rising unsteadily. He ran another hand through his hair and kicked lightly at the wall next the cabinet. "I just…I can't take this…"

I studied his worry-creased face for a second then looked into the silent cabinet along with him. Neither of us said anything else for a long time, each lost in our own thoughts and fears. Finally I put my hand on his shoulder supportively.

"We're gonna do this, Dan. Strange told me that whatever happens…it'll be according to the path he set us on. This thing here…" I gestured at the Time Stone resting against my chest. "This is what we're protecting. Just_ one_ of the many Stones that hold our lives in the balance."

Dan looked from the Time Stone to my face and his worry didn't seem to fade. My supportive façade fell and I looked away from him, my jaw clenched and my stomach twisting.

"This whole thing is bigger than we know, Dan. It's like we're just a couple of pawns in the chaos going on around us." I said slowly, blinking in realization as my own words hit me. "If the other Stones get taken, then they're gonna come for this one. And it'll all be down to us."

"And you're okay with this?" Dan posed it more as a statement, knowing from my betraying facial features that for probably the tenth time since yesterday I was having second thoughts.

"Course not." I said, joking drily. He raised his eyebrows and nodded as he looked back at the glass cabinet. Silence hung over us for a moment before he nodded for me to look into the case.

"It's going to happen tomorrow." Dan murmured quietly. I looked from his grim expression to the cabinet in front of us confusedly.

"…What?"

"The thing we're dreading. The final battle." He said, his voice low with what sounded like dark realization. I peered into the cabinet and noticed that, in addition to the dark staff that had turned into a snake just the day before, there was a small glowing sphere on a pedestal beside it.

"How do you know that?" I asked warily, looking between my friend and the glowing sphere. I squinted and did a double take at the object beside the staff. "Is that a crystal ball?"

"It's called the Orb of Agamotto…that's how I saw what's going to happen." Dan said heavily. I forced myself to look away as my head started to spin with the milky glow inside the ball. Dan tore his own gaze away from the orb to glance at the Time Stone around my neck. "It's kind of like a larger version of that."

"Oh…" I said, taking another quick glance at the glowing sphere in the case. "And it showed you…what exactly?"

Dan didn't answer me right away and his face was suddenly scared as he recounted what the Orb had shown him. When he finally did attempt to speak, it was after fumbling for several seconds to try and form a response.

"Why don't you look? See what it shows you." He suggested quickly. I could tell that he was really unnerved, and I felt suddenly nervous myself as I shrugged slowly and turned to look into the cabinet.

The swirling glow from the Orb seemed to pull me towards it the longer my gaze lingered on it. I tried to focus on standing still in my physical body but felt the pull of the powerful magic reaching out for me. My breath hitched in my throat as I tried to fight my way against it and my vision went black for a moment. My last conscious thought was that my chest was burning once again from the Time Stone around my neck.


	13. Training with the Professionals

_"Sorry Alex, but it's really important that I borrow that for just a moment."_

In my dreamy haze, Doctor Strange's voice echoed around me and I found that I was once more floating in the dark space where I had previously met with the sorcerer. He was staring at me patiently as I regained my composure, blinking several times until he finally came into full focus.

"...I'm sorry?" I said slowly, noticing his expecting glance. He nodded down at my chest and I could see that the bronze pendant around my neck was glowing that warm green color and humming with power.

"The Stone." He said when I continued to hesitate.

"Oh…" I placed my hand over the Eye and held it there for a moment, looking up at the sorcerer warily. "Um…can I have proof first that you are who you appear to be? I don't want to be rude but at the moment I don't really know what to believe or what's real right now…"

Doctor Strange smirked down at me challengingly and then crossed his arms across his chest thoughtfully. I continued to watch him, sensing that he had been in a genuine hurry but that he was also satisfied that I had thought to be so careful with the Stone. A moment passed and then he moved his hands into the Eye shape in front of his own pendant. I followed his motions, moving at the same slow and practiced pace that he did, and both of our Eyes opened with identical clicks. Strange and I both studied each other and I finally made the move first, reaching for the Stone that was burning wildly in the bronze pendant against my chest.

"Careful," Strange said and I stopped my fingers about an inch from the scorching Stone. I glanced up at him worriedly, fearing that I was doing something wrong and moved my hand away as the man floated forward. He made a sort of swirling hand motion before he removed the glowing Stone from my Eye and replaced it back in his.

"Now what?" I asked awkwardly, watching as he closed the Eye around his neck with a familiar motion.

"I won't need to borrow it for long. I just need to check a few things. You can wait here if you'd like." He said casually. He nodded at me smartly, but I knew behind that intelligent façade of his, that he was hiding something. I looked around casually at the weird dark and floaty space we were in and when I blinked next, he was gone.

I looked around in confusion and then my mind instantly went into panic mode. What if giving him the Time Stone had been a bad idea and I had just made a huge mistake in turning it back over to him? I floated in silence for another few seconds and then I was jerked back to my senses as other voices echoed around me.

_"Strange! Hey, are you alright?!" _

I looked around hurriedly in the direction of the panicked voice and then a millisecond later, my chest was burning hot with a flash of green and then I went sprawling onto my back, the darkness consuming me.

* * *

"Oh my God, I'm sorry – I shouldn't have told you to look at the Orb, I had no idea it would –"

I stared wide eyed up at the ceiling of the Sanctum Sanctorum, my mind trying to comprehend what had just happened. My hand went instinctively to the burning Eye over my chest and I yanked it off of the fabric of my robes before the thing could burn a hole through them. Dan grasped my other arm in an attempt to help me back to my feet, still uttering apologies which I ignored.

"What just happened?" I finally stammered, relenting to let Dan pull me to my feet. He blinked at me worriedly for a second and then pointed at the necklace which I still held by the chain away from my chest.

"You looked at the Orb and then the Stone started to glow. You went down, what do you mean 'what happened'?"

"How long was I out?" I asked, looking quickly away as my gaze flickered to the glowing Orb in the case before us.

"Out? Alex, you didn't lose consciousness…at least not in the five seconds since you looked at that thing…" Dan said confusedly, nodding at the glass cabinet. I looked down at the Eye hanging by the chain in front of me and noticed that the bright green glow had dimmed slightly. I hesitantly lowered the pendant back down to my chest, feeling that the worst of the burn had ceased.

"But…Strange was just here…" I said slowly, scrunching up my face thoughtfully. I pointed to my head, and then tapped the Time Stone timidly. "He borrowed this thing and everything…"

"He borrowed it?" Dan repeated. I nodded and then turned around to look down either direction of the darkened hallway.

"And then…I think I heard Tony Stark…"

"So they're still okay? Nothing's changed yet?" He asked, sounding only a little relieved. I shrugged unknowingly and then played back my hurried encounter with the sorcerer.

"He looked worried…just a little, but I saw it."

"Well yeah, I think everyone is worried." Dan said a little sarcastically. Then his smug look softened. "You don't think he's getting edgy because something is about to happen on his end, do you?"

I wouldn't meet his gaze for a long silent moment and when I did, realization had masked his face. We both looked down into the case at the still-glowing Orb at the same second.

"Maybe Thanos is there…or at least on his way." I said lowly, blinking against the swimming glow of the all-seeing Orb.

"I told you it would happen today…" Dan said quietly as we continued to stare down into the silent cabinet, dread hanging over us.

* * *

There was no point in trying to get anymore sleep…it just wasn't an option once Dan and I had realized how grave the situation had gotten so quickly. So we both headed for the rec room where Wong had been training us over the course of the past few days to try and prepare ourselves for the threat on its way. Using some of the knowledge I had read in the book of dimensions, I was somehow able to open up the Mirror Dimension just as Wong had done several times. As soon as Dan and I had entered through the prism-like gateway we each conjured up glowing, magical weapons to battle against each other.

"We're aiming to disarm…" I reminded him slowly, watching in surprise as Dan was able to form some sort of glowing crossbow in his waiting hands. When I had conjured up a dark staff much like the fire-sucker one from the tunnels, Dan nodded once abruptly in agreement. We both took a few strides away from one another, each eyeing our own weapons warily as we decided how to use them.

"I don't think it's very fair to put them against themselves. They might go soft on each other."

I whirled around in confusion at an unfamiliar male voice to the right of us, and pulled my weapon closer to myself defensively. I noticed that Wong stood near the entrance to the Mirror Dimension along with two other robed figures, a man and a woman. The woman could have been in her mid-twenties with blonde hair in a tight knot on the back of her head and the man looked to be a few years older than her with shaggy black hair and olive colored skin. They both wore smug looks as they flanked Wong on either side.

"I thought I ordered you two boys to try and get some rest last night. I had planned for you to be at your best when our guests from Kamar-Taj arrived to test you." Wong said quietly, an amused smirk tugging at his usually tight mouth. I looked curiously at the two people standing beside Wong, noticing that they had a stance that looked strictly coordinated. Though they wore relaxed expressions, their hands were placed stoically by their sides, their muscles tight as if expecting anything to attack them at any moment. Their feet were turned outward like a dancer's might be, in a way that would make it easy to turn in any direction in a split second.

"Guests?" I finally repeated awkwardly when no one added anything after a moment. The blonde haired girl smirked at me in amusement and glanced to her side at the man standing on the other side of Wong.

"Alex, you will be paired with Casey. Dan, you are to train with Grayson." Wong instructed nonchalantly. The blonde haired woman moved stoically past Wong and stopped in front of me, sizing me up with her eyes. From the corner of my eye, I could see that the man, Grayson, walked over to stand by Dan's side. My awkwardly surprised expression must have been evident on my face and Casey must have known how I felt under her gaze because she kept her intense stare fixed on me purposely.

"Hi…" I finally stammered hesitantly as I heard Dan murmuring a greeting to Grayson across the room. Casey's observant gaze shifted to an amused one, but her battle-ready stance didn't slacken as she offered me her hand to shake.

"Hello yourself, Stone Wielder." She said lightly, her eyes only briefly flicking to the pendant around my neck. I felt myself blush deeply as she spoke, kicking myself internally as I realized that she clearly noticed.

"Alright, your assignments are as follows…you each have one minute to disarm your acting opponent." Wong said. I blinked in confusion as my own conjured staff vanished from my hand to be replaced with what looked like a wooden stick like somebody would use for stick ball. I frowned down at it for a moment before I heard Wong's sharp voice call out, _"Go!"_

Instantly, I felt Casey's elbow jut into my chest, knocking me backwards and nearly off of my feet. I clutched my stickball stick tightly and lurched forward to clash it against her own stick warningly. She made an amused huff and spun around to whack me in my lower back with her stick.

"Are you sure he's up for this, Wong? He looks like he's gonna let that injured arm get the better of him." She called more to tease me than out of concern. As I moved to block her before she could strike me again, she kicked me in the side of the knee painfully. I uttered a surprised cry and then moved like I was going return the kick but she was already spinning lithely around me out of reach.

"Thirty seconds…" Wong called out from his post by the wall. I whirled around to follow Casey's quick and practiced movements, hearing from the other side of the room that Dan and Grayson's battle was well underway. Flashes of golden sparks lit up in the corner of my vision but I refused to look away from Casey's perfected motions, knowing that the instant my attention went elsewhere I would lose the practice battle.

"Think fast, Hot Shot!" Casey said as I heard her stick whooshing through the air behind my head. I yanked my stick up to block her and then used all of the strength in my arm to force her stick downward. I could tell I'd caught her by surprise and I quickly took advantage of it by summoning up a golden shield with my other hand to butt against her next attack.

"Twenty…" Wong's voice warned us. Still facing Casey head-on, I held my glowing shield in front of me to block yet another blow that she attempted to land on me. She stood motionless for a millisecond more and through my mandala I noticed that she was waving her fingers oddly along her stick. Squinting, I could see that her weapon was shimmering with what looked like magically conjured electricity and my eyes widened as I let my shield down to retreat from the sizzling stick in her grasp.

"No fair!" I protested as I swung my plain old stick around to block hers. She grinned smugly down at me as I leaned away from the searing heat coming off of her weapon. I noticed the scent of burning wood and saw that my poor stick was smoking where hers was bearing against it. Thinking quickly, I dove downward and rolled out of the way as she slammed her electrically-charged stick down where I had been less than a second before. I leapt up from my knees and threw my weapon against the woman's shins which caused her to let out an annoyed growl.

"Ten seconds!" Wong called loudly over the sounds of the two battles in the room. I leapt out of Casey's path as she once more jabbed towards me with her sizzling stick. I then remembered the Sling Ring that remained on my hand and thinking quickly, I shoved my stick under my arm so I could swirl a portal into existence by Casey's side. She jerked her head in the direction I was pointing but I was already diving into it and emerging on the other side of her where another portal had materialized. I swung downwards and my eyes widened in disbelief as her magically enhanced stick went flying out of her grasp. She whirled around, shocked as Wong called time.

"That was awesome…" I said under my breath, looking down at the stick that still remained in my grasp. Casey's face was red with the strain of our battle and possibly from embarrassment. I offered her an apologetic shrug as she turned to see how Grayson and Dan had faired.

"Looks like Alex won over here, just _barely_…" Wong announced slowly. He turned to see that Dan had been pinned to the ground, Grayson standing over him with his stick hooked underneath Dan's in what looked to have been an attempt to pry the weapon from my friend by strength alone. Dan had his foot pressed into Grayson's chest to keep the trained sorcerer at bay and he looked like he had been about to roll out from under him. Upon hearing that the minute's competition was over, Grayson released his tight grip on his stick and stooped to help Dan to his feet smartly.

"We didn't finish…" Dan mumbled sourly, throwing an irritated look up at his partner as we all turned to face Wong's expectant gaze. The sorcerer nodded with acknowledgement and then looked to the two newcomers.

"How did our chosen ones do?" Wong asked them loudly. I looked to Dan who had his head bowed slightly in his bitterness over his battle. He finally looked up at me and his expression changed to a weary shrug.

"Do we need to be here to hear this?" I mouthed to him. We both looked up at Wong to see that Casey and Grayson were once more at his side. All three of them were muttering to one another thoughtfully.

"It's kinda awkward…" Dan agreed after a few seconds. I noticed that his gaze was trained on the wooden floor, a distant look in his eyes. He still held his stick in his right hand and was turning it around in his palm slowly as he stared downward.

"You didn't try very hard, did you?" I asked him gently. His head snapped upward at my suggestion and his eyes flicked to me accusingly. I held my gaze firmly, not wanting to be intimidated by my moody friend.

"I told you earlier that I saw how today is going to end…" He said slowly, speaking lowly under his breath and keeping an eye on the three sorcerers at the front of the room. I followed his gaze and noticed that Casey cast a quick glance over her shoulder to us before adding something else to whatever she had been saying to Wong and Grayson.

"We're going to be able to do this, Dan…that's what all of this is for…" I tried to say helpfully. But Dan wouldn't look at me as he shook his head more violently.

"No…we're going to –"

"Alright! New assignment." Wong said, clapping his hands once together to get our attention. Casey and Grayson flanked the man once more, making him look short in stature between the two of them. Upon his instruction, they simultaneously swirled two portals into existence in front of them, through which several other robed figures emerged into our little room in the Mirror Dimension.

"Uh…what's the goal this time?" I asked, not bothering to introduce myself to any of the dozen sorcerers and apprentices that had suddenly appeared in the Sanctum. Wong smirked at me over the other soundless figures in the room and he shrugged as if the answer was simple.

"Try not to die."

Dan and I had maybe five seconds to comprehend his words before the whole crowd of sorcerers swarmed towards the two of us at once.


	14. Atmospherical Changes

**Hello everyone! I really hope you're all semi-enjoying reading this story of mine and I'd like to reassure anyone who is thinking it's getting kinda bland that I'm nearing the climax where everything starts coming together. I'm sorry if it's been dragging a little, but I haven't really gotten any feedback on it yet so I'm gonna take that to mean that it's going okay so far. Okay, you can get to reading now. ^-^ **

"This is insane!" I hissed from where Dan and I hid in a room down one of the many hallways in the lower floor of the Sanctum. Dan said nothing in reply and the only noise he made was a stifled heaving of breaths from the several minutes' worth of running we had just done. We stood there in the dim light of the room with our backs pressed against the wall just inside the doorway and I could see that the sun had risen only slightly outside, casting a blueish light through the shaded windows across the small room. It had to be at least eight in the morning, and I could already tell that the day was already well on the way to driving me even further into madness.

"You two check upstairs, and we'll split up and take care of the lower hallways separately." A husky voice whispered just outside the room Dan and I hid in. I squeezed my eyes shut and stood up from the wall to prepare a portal once the people outside had hopefully moved out of earshot. I heard Dan shift to my left and I turned to see that he had moved further into the room and towards what looked like a giant potted plant against the wall.

"Dan…what are you doing?" I said, barely whispering for fear that the people just outside the room would hear us. Dan didn't respond as he just continued to maneuver across the darkened room silently, his slippered feet muffled on the carpeted floor. I hesitated by the door for a few seconds longer before I followed him, stopping where he faced the large plant by the window.

The plant looked just like any ordinary houseplant you might find in an elegant house and I glanced confusedly at the back of Dan's head as he continued to hold some curious interest in it. I tried to follow his gaze and noticed that the plant seemed to be just a small tree, with limbs sprouting randomly up and down the slim trunk and dark green leaves covering the wood almost entirely.

"What is it, Dan?" I asked him worriedly as I could hear the voices outside growing just a little louder once more as they returned from wherever else they had decided to look. Dan held up his left hand to silence me and then he pointed at the tree. I blinked and waited expectantly for something to happen and then he finally whirled around and pointed with his other hand at the Time Stone around my neck before nodding back at the tree.

"In here!" A feminine voice hissed just outside the door. The doorknob twisted and I instantly leapt into motion, opening the Eye on my chest. There was an exclamation of surprise from the woman who had been about to enter the room as the house plant/tree exploded forward, the hastily growing limbs shooting straight for her and out the door into the hallway.

_"Yes!"_ Dan exclaimed excitedly as he clapped a hand onto my shoulder. The entirety of the small room had been overtaken by vines and leaves and sprouting limbs, but the two of us were protected by a circle of energy conjured up by Dan. I stopped the Time Jump hastily as I heard several voices rushing down the hallway outside to come and investigate the commotion of the crawling tree limbs.

"Let's move." I said quietly as I closed the Eye and swirled a portal that led to the underground tunnels. Dan and I leapt through the golden sparks and I closed it behind us hastily before what sounded like a torrent of energy blasts could hit us. As soon as the portal had closed, we were cast into pitch blackness and I realized that all of the torches must have blown out since the battle with Proxima Midnight.

"Let there be light." Dan muttered, motioning with his hands. Golden sparks coiled from his palms outward to the walls and the torches lining the walls all blazed to life in a heartbeat. I scoffed quietly and then smirked as we wandered down the familiar path that we had previously been down with Dr. Banner.

"How long do you think it'll take them to find us down here?" I asked to fill the silence in the echoing tunnel. Dan made a weary sound in his throat and seemed to stretch his arms lazily.

"Oh, not long." He said sourly. He looked up at the high stone ceiling above us as we descended deeper into the tunnels, almost coming upon the rubble where Proxima Midnight had caused the cave-in.

"How long do you think this exercise will last?" I asked after another few moments of walking in silence. Dan shrugged as he seemed at war within himself and I suddenly stopped to face him. When he noticed that I had ceased our pointless walking, he too stopped in his tracks.

"What?" He asked absently. I crossed my arms over the Time Stone accusingly before I spoke.

"So…you know how today's battle is going to go." I phrased it more as a statement on purpose, not expecting him to answer and when he didn't, I continued. "Did what you saw include what's happening to us right now?"

Dan held my prodding gaze for a moment before he turned away and continued to head downward towards the rubble of rocks and dust. I struggled to keep up with his pace as he seemed to seriously be avoiding my question.

"That's how you knew what to do with that tree upstairs, wasn't it?" I pressed on. Dan looked back as a distant crash sounded from back down the tunnel.

"So what if it was?" Dan challenged me, conjuring up the glowing crossbow that he hadn't been able to use before. I moved to summon up a portal for our escape as another portal flared to existence right in front of us.

_"Come on!"_ I hissed, whirling around to conjure our portal. Dan stayed facing the other way as I worked, firing a few of his glowing arrows at the sorcerers that had appeared. Amid the exclamations and Dan defending us with his magical crossbow, I felt a ball of energy slam against my injured shoulder, interrupting me in my summoning. I was forced to whirl around, grasping at my aching stab wound, suddenly taking the practice fight personally. I flipped my right hand upward and sparks fizzled into a ball of golden energy which simmered warningly in my palm. The three sorcerers that had found us stood amusedly a few yards away from us, two men and a woman, all of which held glowing magical weapons in battle-ready poses.

"Not very sporting when your master decides to put you kids up against the big guys, huh?" The red haired man over to the right of the threesome spoke up tauntingly. The other two apprentices scoffed and grinned in amusement and the dark haired woman twirled her baton lightly, much like Proxima Midnight had only the day before. The motion seemed to trigger something in me and I chucked my ball of golden energy straight at the woman who seemed taken by surprise at my act of rage.

"Get him!" The woman growled in exasperation and the two men leapt forward at us on golden discs that they created as they moved. One went high in the air while the other dodged to the left of us. The dark haired woman took her glowing baton in both hands and split it into two batons, both of which lengthened into shimmering points about two feet in length.

"Duck, Alex!" Dan shouted, lunging in front of me with the shield covering his right arm to block the red haired man's downward jab with what looked like a shimmering golden scythe. I flexed my left hand outward and felt a familiar presence of a powerful black pole materialize in my hands. I chanced a quick glance to see that my fire staff had reappeared, and I had about one second to smirk in relief before I swung the thing around to my front to block myself from the woman's speedy approach. Once she had failed at striking my weapon aside with hers, she growled in irritation and brought both halves of her baton together in a huge clapping motion. A pulse of energy as strong as a sonic blast sent both me and Dan sprawling backwards with the force of it, and as we rolled into the cave wall I heard the sound of yet another portal coming into existence.

"They're over here, Anna! Fredrick, hurry and help me get them back upstairs to base!" The red haired man greeted the two newcomers quickly, and I rolled out of reach as a whip shot towards where Dan and I were struggling to get back to our feet.

"Don't let him conjure a portal!" One of the girls' voices cried out hurriedly as I once more attempted to do just that. Dan fired up a huge mandala shield which deflected what sounded like a rockslide.

"Stop destroying Strange's property!" I shouted back furiously as I realized that they had somehow removed a chunk of the tunnel's wall and that had been what had nearly broken through Dan's shield.

"You're one to talk!" One of the men retorted as I angrily tried to focus on creating our escape route. "We saw what you did to the roof yesterday!"

"Don't listen to them, Alex. They're only trying to get you preoccupied from achieving the goal here." Dan warned me under his breath as he somehow managed to hold the oversized shield with one hand and fire bursts of flame from my fire staff which he had picked up from where I had dropped it in our fall.

"How are you both so advanced at such an early stage?" One man, the one they called Fredrick exclaimed as his attempt to get around the edge of Dan's shield was thwarted by me throwing an illusion of smog directly into his face.

"We've had a reason to learn quickly." I said through gritted teeth. The portal finally opened in front of me and I yanked Dan through it and closed it once we'd reached the other side in one swift motion.

"Quick – you have to cloak us!" Dan said lowly, surveying our surroundings speedily for any nearby sorcerers. We were in the white surgical room from the afternoon before, only now everything was spotless and cleaned of the bloody mess that I had caused yesterday.

"Cloak us?" I repeated uncertainly. I immediately got the gist of what he had been saying as I heard sudden hurried voices rushing down the hall.

"In here! I heard them!" Casey's voice echoed as she somehow teleported through the wall. Thankfully my reflexes had caused me to move with superhuman speed and Dan and I were illusioned into appearing invisible in the empty surgical room. The two of us stared hopefully at Casey's prodding eyes, knowing that she probably would be able to seek out illusions in a heartbeat. I began to edge slowly and soundlessly backward toward the window, hoping that she wouldn't come so far as to walk the entirety of the room and risk bumping into us invisible sorcerers-in-training.

"Something's coming…" A male voice emanated from outside the room. Casey turned her head in the direction of the man's voice and I recognized Grayson when he emerged through the doorway, his head cocked to the side like he was listening for something. Casey seemed to do the same thing, her eyes closed and her stance stiffened as she sensed something.

"Come on…" I mouthed to Dan, who was the only other person able to see through our illusion. His expression was worried but he silently followed after me as we edged around the room, trying to get past the two statuesque sorcerers.

"It's almost time." Casey said, her voice sounding odd and dreamlike as she and Grayson continued to listen to whatever forces and enmities that they were sensing. I hesitated in the doorway a few feet behind Grayson and I shared a weary glance with Dan before we slowly escaped the room.

"It's almost time?" I repeated in a hoarse whisper once we'd moved a few yards down the quiet hallway. Dan said nothing but I could sense that he was even more on edge than he had been moments before.

The Sanctum was cast into eerie silence as I assumed that every sorcerer scattered about inside of it had stopped to sense the change in the atmosphere. My chest was heavy with dread and something else I couldn't put my finger on, and I was almost sure that my invisibility illusion was faltering because of my worry.

"I wish you could tell me what happens next, man…" I said lowly to Dan as we rounded a bend in the hallway and headed for some random stairs in the mazelike mansion. "Because I don't like being kept in the dark."

"Well it's about to get really dark, so stay alert if you can." Dan said cryptically, and I looked over at him in surprise as he perfectly mimicked Wong's dark puzzling way of speaking. He didn't crack a halfhearted smirk but only held my gaze with his worried, held back and knowing expression.

Just as we climbed up to the next landing of steps, I noticed that a large window set along the staircase cast the late morning sunlight brightly down into the Sanctum, illuminating the Victorian décor and architecture. I hesitated on the landing and turned my back on the window to look down the steps and to the lower hallway we'd just left, seeing the reflection of the window almost as clearly as if from a mirror on the polished wood floor below. Dan and I were still invisible, as revealed by the reflection in the floor.

As I turned back to continue ascending the steps to the next landing or floor, I noticed that the light from the window suddenly disappeared, to be replaced by a dimmer, more reddish light. Dan and I stepped back hurriedly as a portal suddenly emerged from the window, staying open just long enough for a skinny, red and blue figure to leap through before it winked out of existence.

"_Oh my God_ – I'm –wait, what?!" The figure exclaimed in surprise as he bumped into me on the landing, not knowing we were there because we were still masked by my illusion. Dan and I said nothing to give ourselves away as we retreated a few steps back to take in the sight on the staircase.

Instead of the usual latex costume that he usually was known to wear, the figure was clothed in what looked like a modified version of Tony Stark's Iron Man armor. The armor had two large white eye pieces in the mask, which dilated and twitched as the figure surveyed his surroundings in a panic. The armor also looked severely damaged in several places, as if the hero had just left the scene of some grotesque and taxing battle. As the figure whirled around in our direction for what seemed liked the tenth time, I decided to remove the illusion I had cast over me and Dan and finally addressed the familiar figure in front of us.

_"…Spiderman?" _


	15. Hastened Acceptance

**I'm apologizing in advance for how short this chapter is...I've been super busy trying to plan for my favorite time of year - Halloween - but I think I'm nearing the 'good part' so hopefully this will start getting more interesting or action-packed. Let me know if anyone has any ideas and I'll try and fit your suggestions in! I need all the help I can get! :D**

Spiderman instantly leapt back in surprise as Dan and I materialized right before his concealed eyes on the stair landing.

"Wha-!" The masked figure exclaimed, and then it was my turn to stumble backwards as four mechanical limbs sprouted instantaneously from the back of his suit in defense.

"Woah!" I shouted as Spiderman acted out, trying to get control of his seemingly new suit. The limbs disappeared with a series of clicks and then Spiderman tilted his head to the side in confusion when he realized that we weren't going to attack him.

"W-Who are you guys?" He asked breathlessly, turning his masked face in first my direction and then in Dan's.

"We're Doctor Strange's new recruits." Dan said quickly, his expression strangely calm. He narrowed his eyes at the hero that stood in front of us. "…where are the others by the way?"

Spiderman looked frozen to the spot for a moment before he slowly shook his head and the large white eye pieces in his mask grew smaller with a kind of mechanical emotion on his masked face.

"I…Thanos…he…" He struggled for how to word what I assumed was something truly horrifying. I grew panicked as I studied the frazzled stance of the known hero before me.

"Where did you just come from?" I asked him as gently as I could while still prodding him for information. He stopped with his hand mid-scratch on top of his covered head and slowly shifted his mechanical gaze to me.

"A…We were on a planet called Titan. We were there to meet Thanos before he made his way to Earth for the last two Stones…" He broke off in midsentence, pointed a gloved finger at me and his voice grew suddenly lower. "T-That's the one Strange was telling us about, isn't it? The one that he pretended to have on him to trick Thanos."

"…Yeah." I said slowly, frowning at him in confusion.

"You were with Doctor Strange and Iron Man on that planet just now, weren't you?" Dan pressed on hurriedly. Spiderman nodded and then to make things easier, his mask retracted back into the suit to reveal a teenaged boy not much younger than Dan and I. His face was stained with sweat and what looked like red dirt and his brown hair was wild and littered with the same grimy substances. As soon as his face was unmasked I squinted at him in surprise and even further puzzlement.

"I know you…" I said slowly and he looked at me hesitantly before his shoulders slumped. "You go to school with us."

"Yeah." He confirmed softly, rubbing at his arms worriedly.

"Isn't your name Percy or something?" Dan asked him gently.

"Peter." He corrected, rolling his eyes lightly. Then he grew panicked again as the direness of the situation hit him again. "But that's not the point guys…we need to get help. Where exactly…"

"You're in Doctor Stephen Strange's home." Wong's voice spoke loudly from the floor above us. The three of us on the stair landing instantly turned in the direction of the intrusion to see that Wong stood on the next floor surprisingly alone despite the numerous sorcerers that had been scattered about in the large mansion.

"…Right." Spiderman murmured, turning to look behind him at the window as if to seek out the portal he had come through. "So…I take it that you're Wong?"

"Yes." Wong said, gesturing for the three of us to join him on the next floor of the building. Dan was the first to move towards the next set of steps, followed by Spiderman and then me. Wong's gaze stayed on the newcomer warily as we steadily climbed the stairs. "Strange sent you with a message?"

"Well…not exactly." Spiderman said once we'd reached the final few steps before the staircase broke off on the next floor. Wong raised an eyebrow in surprise and I noticed that his casual, all-knowing demeanor faltered just a tiny bit.

"Oh?"

"They…we were _all_ supposed to come through the portal…" Peter said softly, his voice cracking at the end. I stiffened as a cold chill ran down my back and then I noticed that Wong froze as well before he nodded curtly at the news.

"So it was more than just you, Strange and Tony Stark up there…" I said slowly to Peter as I tried to understand. He looked at me confusedly before nodding in confirmation.

"Yeah…this other group of heroes from space was waiting on Titan for Thanos and when we got there, they thought that the three of us worked for him. After that scary scuffle we all sort of teamed up and…and then we fought Thanos." Peter said, ending abruptly. His eyes widened and grew distant for a moment.

Dan and I exchanged careful glances, and I could tell that Dan's mind was calculating how much time we all had before _our_ battle was upon us. I turned back to ask Spiderman how exactly their confrontation had gone with the infamous Thanos we had all been warned about, but Wong beat me to it.

"So Strange survived your battle long enough to send you here." Wong stated slowly, trying to piece together what had gone down on the alien planet. Peter tore his gaze away from the remembering distance and he took a heavy breath before he tried to answer the sorcerer.

"H-He was hurt pretty bad…but he wanted to be sure that we all got away before Thanos destroyed…" Peter broke off once more, emotion welling up in both his voice and his bruised and battered face.

"Destroyed…what?" I asked hesitantly. Peter swung his shining gaze to me before he blinked the building emotional tears away.

"Thanos was planning on destroying the whole planet. He said it held too many bad memories for him." Peter frowned thoughtfully and then shook his head and brushed a hand through his hair in an attempt to hide the tears that had crept back up on the hero.

"Then…Stark…and Strange…" Dan said distantly. I looked at him through my own panicking gaze, not believing what I was hearing. I chanced a look at Wong where he stood motionless with his gaze staring down through the floor at his feet. I tore myself away from our small cluster at the top of the staircase and started stumbling backwards down the hallway, clutching at the Time Stone on my chest.

"I…I don't…" I stammered, not really knowing what I was even trying to say. Peter and Dan looked after me, the same disbelieving expression on both of their faces. Wong had turned away and was looking down the staircase and out the large window on the landing below in thoughtful silence. I whirled around and started to run away as if I could escape the horrible news that Spiderman had brought with him.

"Alex…" Dan called after me wearily. I didn't turn around to acknowledge him, I just kept running. I rounded curves and dove through doorways, attempting to get myself lost in the maze of the Sanctum. I finally stopped as I burst through a room, hearing the familiar sound of cannon fire before I dove past the shadowy cold blast of air into a room that was cast in pitch blackness despite the bright morning sunlight outside. I turned over my shoulder and shot a mandala of golden light at the door behind me and heard it slam shut satisfyingly before I collapsed against the wall opposite of the door.

"Strange…Strange you _can't_ be gone…" I muttered to myself repeatedly, feeling my head tighten with the pressure of an awful migraine. The Time Stone began to glow vividly in the darkness of the room and I shook my head against it, clasping my hand over it and squeezing the pendant threateningly against the heat rising from inside of it. "Please…let this Spiderman kid be wrong…"

I sat with my back pressed painfully against the wall and my breaths hitched with emotion as I kept my eyes squeezed shut to the dark room around me. The mansion was silent without even the sounds of footsteps from Dan or Wong or even Peter following me throughout the hallways, which gave me the feeling that they hadn't. I clenched my jaw as I continued to stare at the darkness behind my eyelids, searching deeply for the mental pathways that had previously connected me with the sorcerer. I wandered for a long time in the pitch darkness separated from my body but the harder I looked with no results, the more fearful I began to feel.

_"Doctor Strange…please tell me…are you there?"_ I called out for what felt like the hundredth time. My voice bounced around in the darkness for several seconds and I tried to conjure up my golden mandala shields to light my way. Even with the glow, every direction I tried to turn was shrouded in blank darkness. I could faintly feel the warmth of the Time Stone resting against my chest but I refused to even look at the cursed thing.

"Get it together, man."

Dan's voice brought me back from the black void that I had been wandering in and I could suddenly see that the light from the hallway outside the room revealed that I was in a dorm-like room lined with half a dozen beds and dressers. I looked around at the large room wonderingly and then imagined that Strange had probably trained several apprentices in here before, some of them even around mine and Dan's ages.

"Dan…he's gone." I said distantly, my head trying to make sense of the stifling darkness that had once been a way of communication. Dan offered me a sad smirk.

"Haven't we been through all this already?" He asked, joking gently. I sighed in defeat, my back still braced against the wall behind me and my head bowed. Dan moved to sit beside me on the ground, growing thankfully silent for a moment.

"So this thing is really about to start, isn't it?" I said as I looked up from the wood floor and towards the sunlit hallway outside the room. From the corner of my eye I could see Dan nod serenely.

` "Pretty soon, yeah." He admitted softly.

"And you know every move and every decision we're going to make up until this whole thing is over and done with?" I asked him almost pleadingly. He shook his head and I turned to look at him as he explained.

"What the Orb showed me was the gist of the coming fight. It's like I saw main things in the event happening, but I didn't see enough to know like, for instance, who was involved where or the outcome of individual scuffles or even where Thanos and his minions are going to show up for the said battle." Dan said quickly. I blinked in confusion as I tried to understand what he was saying.

"So you can't tell me who's going to die or when?" I asked, not really wanting to know either of the answers to those questions. Dan was silent as he looked back down and shook his head.

"It's like it's all…jumbled up possibilities. Part of it I felt like was my imagination and my worries about what_ could_ and most likely _would_ happen if we were faced with the situations that we're going to be facing. But the Orb directed me to certain important points in the situation and it was revealed to me that if they didn't happen then it would throw everything out of whack."

"What if I was to go and look into the mystical crystal ball? Do you think it would tell us how to beat this?" I asked only a little sarcastically. Mixed emotions clouded my ability to reason logically, whereas before I had half-convinced myself that we would come out on top. Now that Doctor Strange – the one who had been secretly helping me out with my training and knowledge – was out of the picture however…I wasn't so sure anymore.

"I don't think it'll work like that…" Dan said wearily. My shoulders slumped in defeat and I cringed at the soreness that ran down to my right elbow.

"Then I guess all we can do is wait, huh?" I said deeply, my hands on my knees as we sat together on the floor.

"Wait, and continue your training." Wong's voice said. I looked up, unsurprised at his ability to teleport to see that he stood in the hall outside the dorm room. "We will use every last second we have until Thanos' arrival to prepare for this."

"Mr. Stark…Tony…said the same thing." Peter piped up as he stepped into the room after Wong, and then he shrugged. "Well, almost the same thing. He was mainly trying to outdo the leader of the space heroes. That guy was kind a jerk…you know it's really his fault that we didn't…that we weren't able to get the other Stones away from him."

"How many others did he have?!" I asked hurriedly. Peter blinked and then frowned, worry creasing his bruised face.

"He had four of the six. He came to meet one of his buddies, thinking that he had the Time Stone. This Ebony Maw guy had kidnapped Doctor Strange and me and Mr. Stark stowed away on his ship to try and rescue him." Peter explained.

"He just needs two more Stones…" I repeated in realization, pushing myself up to my feet and looking down at the Time Stone still glowing faintly on my chest. "Where is the other one?"

"With Captain America and the other Avengers." Wong said, as if the answer was obvious. Dan stood up behind me and I threw him a worried glance as he nodded knowingly towards Wong.

"…Where do you think he'll go first?" I asked, looking at Wong for more answers. The sorcerer thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"It's hard to say, but we're staying in close touch with the others. If Thanos comes to Earth, it'll be one of these two places." He said, somehow keeping his voice even despite the heavy weight hanging over all of us. "And we'll have access to some of the most skilled sorcerers available to aid us."

"What if he chooses to go for the Avengers' Stone first?" Peter asked quickly. Wong flicked his gaze to the unmasked Spiderman and sighed deeply.

"I've told Bruce Banner that if that should be the case that they will have their chance to stop Thanos and if they are unable, we will step in." Wong said carefully.

"We will?" Dan asked in confusion, turning to give the man a critiquing stare. Wong returned the look accusingly and then shook his head.

"Not you two. It would be too dangerous to let the two Stones be too close together."

"How close are they from each other now?" I asked him demandingly.

"It would be unwise to tell you out loud where the Mind Stone is." Wong said, narrowing his eyes distrustfully down at me. I frowned at him in disbelief and then looked at Dan who was mimicking the sorcerer's expression and aiming it at him too.

"Well, Captain America has it so it's in good hands, right?" Peter asked, trying to get some assurance from Wong. The man didn't answer which left us three kids even more uneasy.

"We don't have time for this discussion right now…" Wong said as he turned back to the hallway behind him.

"You're right." An eerily familiar voice spoke up from behind me. A shimmering portal was bubbling into view and the darkened dorm room was cast with a swimming dark blue glow. I looked at the materializing portal just long enough to see a tall, muscular woman emerge from the darkened part of the portal before I summoned a golden portal for the four of us to retreat through. Proxima Midnight had returned.


	16. Searching for Answers Amid Confusion

**Sorry for the delay in updating...I got really busy with my favorite time of the year. Had my Halloween party last weekend and then participated in the Trunk or Treat at my church the next day so I was completely worn out for the little bit that I was home last weekend. So I figured I would try to build up a decent sized chapter to compensate for being thrown off schedule so here you go! Hope it's good enough and I hope ya'll will start to give me a little feedback so I know how you are enjoying or not enjoying this! Happy Halloween! ^_^**

"Oh my God, I didn't think she'd be back so soon!" I stammered, my internal panic exploding outward. Me, Dan, Wong and Peter all emerged instantaneously in the foyer of the Sanctum in a stumbling manner. The portal I had conjured closed hastily behind the four of us and cut us off from the blue alien woman that had appeared so suddenly in the old dorm room.

"Who's back?" Peter asked as his mask materialized back into existence, shielding his suddenly paranoid face from view.

Wong moved hurriedly away from our little group and I noticed that several of the sorcerers we had been running from earlier were already standing shoulder to shoulder, armed at the ready with glowing mystical weapons for the threat they knew was coming. I looked up at the large window over the staircase, the light from the late morning sun catching off of the newly recharged wards over the Sanctum. About three or four of the scattered sorcerers were still chanting incoherently with their glowing hands raised towards the roof of the building and as I watched, a blast of golden mist washed through the walls from the protective spells outside and down towards the room where I assumed Proxima Midnight had emerged.

"That won't do any good, she's already here!" I insisted to no one's notice. Wong turned around once the golden light had diminished, his gaze criticizing.

"If Proxima Midnight were still up there, then we would have heard a very destructive explosion as that spell hit her." Wong said, his voice low and calm. I shook my head in disbelief and moved toward him seriously to prove my point.

"No…she came through some kind of portal…I can't believe you didn't see it! It was this ugly blue color and –"

"Alex, we didn't see anything."

I turned to Dan who had spoken up from my right. His face held genuine worry for me and I felt suddenly scrutinized under his stare. I stood back a little straighter and looked between Wong and my friend.

"Then why did I see her just now?"

Dan shook his head, unable to answer my question. I noticed that his attention suddenly flickered to Wong who had also turned away from my ramblings.

"Has the Sanctum in Kamar Taj been alerted?" Wong asked Casey and Grayson who stood closest to us. Casey gave Wong a curt nod and pointed to a group of young sorcerers by the large front door of the Sanctum. They were in the midst of blocking the door with confining spells and what looked to be some kind of booby traps should the enemy try to come our way.

"Michael and Victor came as soon as they heard. The rest will be along shortly once the Sanctum in China has been notified." Casey said quickly. She looked past Wong and to me and Dan and Peter who had once more donned his mask.

"What's the plan?" Grayson asked stiffly, as he stepped in between us and the staircase where three sorcerers had finished their work upstairs and were hustling down the steps to join the rest of the scattered troops.

"Illusions. Alex's seemed to keep Proxima Midnight confused enough to overtake last time for the most part, so we'll use that should anyone decide to turn up." Wong directed. The crowd of sorcerers, about three dozen all together, nodded as one and then eerily moved together in their perfected motions, golden sparks flying up above them simultaneously. In the blink of an eye, every one of them wore a glowing green Time Stone around their necks.

"Perhaps it would be best if we make the real one disappear." Casey suggested lightly as she moved past Wong and waved her hands fluidly in my direction. There was a warm sensation that shimmered against every molecule of my chest and neck that the pendant and chain touched. When I looked up to see that Casey had finished her brief conjuring spell over me, I realized that she had made the Stone completely invisible to the eye, even mine.

"What if I need to use it?" I asked her, gently touching the space on my chest where the necklace still rested. Casey gave me a half smile and shrugged.

"It's still there and ready should you need it." She said simply.

"Why don't I just make my whole body invisible? I was able to fool you when I did that earlier." I suggested lightly. Casey smirked teasingly and shook her head as she turned away from me.

"You didn't fool me for a minute, Hot Shot." She said. "But if you want to try and hide the whole time, be my guest." I stared after her, wide eyed and blushing slightly as she left to aid the other sorcerers in their planning.

"So…if she wasn't really there…then why did I see her?" I asked Wong again before he could run off to converse with someone else or attempt to give orders. The sorcerer turned to me patiently.

"He's toying with us."

"Who? Thanos?" I asked him quickly.

"He has possession of the Reality Stone. He's attempting to weaken our defenses and drive us into giving up the Time Stone willingly." Wong explained, his eyes darting around skeptically at the surrounding sorcerers before his gaze finally landed on me.

"But…we would never do that…" I said slowly. Wong nodded briefly and lowered his gaze to the invisible space where the Stone lay hidden on my chest. He clapped a hand firmly on my good shoulder.

"Keep reminding yourself that, Alex." He said lowly so that only I could hear him. He turned around briefly as one of the other magically-practiced people, Michael I think, reported something to him.

"…What does he mean by that?" I asked Dan quietly. He had been standing solemnly by my side in silence for several minutes and when I turned to him he shook his head and pointed down at my chest.

"Just that you need to make absolutely sure that the Time Stone never leaves your sight. Er…your possession." Dan said with a side smirk. I studied his face worriedly before I turned back to Wong.

"So…Thanos can't get in." I said, trying to understand what Wong had said.

"At the moment, no, and we'd like to keep it that way." He said in his authoritative tone.

"Okay…so what can we do to enforce that?" Spiderman piped in, taking the words right out of my mouth before I could say them. Wong regarded the masked hero thoughtfully before he responded.

"Thanos is currently in Wakanda attempting to obtain the Mind Stone from the remaining Avengers. The Avengers' plan is to destroy the Mind Stone before Thanos has a chance to get to it. Should that happen, we can expect that he will immediately be upon us here." Wong explained simply. The whole foyer of the Sanctum was silent as everyone within earshot processed his words.

"Has…Has the Mind Stone been destroyed yet?" Peter asked quietly, his voice reverberating loud and clear through the silent room.

"Unfortunately no. The Mind Stone still lies in the head of an android created partly by Tony Stark." Wong answered drily. "They're attempting to remove the Stone before destroying it so as to spare him."

"It's a robot? Why are they worried about whether or not they blow it up too? Is it important or something?" I asked in confusion.

"To us, no. But one of the younger recruits to the Avengers seems particularly attracted to the android." Wong said in an almost bitter tone. I glanced to Dan skeptically and he shrugged in equal puzzlement.

"Shouldn't the young recruit know how much rests on their decision to hesitate in destroying the Stone?" Peter asked, once again reading my mind. Wong looked over at Spiderman at the same moment I did and I noticed that the white eye pieces in the hero's mask widened in sudden realization. Peter pointed at me and then seemed to notice that the Stone he was referring to was invisible. "Why don't we just destroy this one too? Ehh…Wherever it is?"

I looked over to Wong in hopeful silence and Dan also turned speculatively towards the head sorcerer.

"Can we do that?" Dan asked, for once hopeful instead of resting dismally under the worrisome cloud that had been hanging over him since the Orb of Agamotto had shown him the possible future events. Wong was silent for a long moment before he sighed deeply and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Strange's last comment on the matter was a definitive 'no'."

"Then there must be some way to reverse what's happening." Casey said, having been listening intently to our bantering. "Do you think that's a possibility?"

"Thanos already has four of the Infinity Stones." Wong reminded us sternly.

"Can we not go back to before he had them so that we can somehow prevent this whole collection he's been putting together?" Peter asked quickly. He gestured over his shoulder. "I agree with you, Mr. Wong, sir…with those four Stones back on Titan, he was pretty much impossible to beat."

"That's not how the Time Stone works." Wong said bluntly. I looked down at the invisible space where the Time Stone still hung around my neck.

"How do you know everything about how it works? Have you used it before?" I asked, knowing that it was a stupid question. I quickly tried to add something to make it sound more lighthearted. "I'm pretty sure that there are always new things to learn with this…"

"This is no time for playing, Alexander." Wong said, scowling darkly in my direction. I winced as I stepped back to let him continue scolding me in front of everyone. "Just because he gave you the Time Stone that day, doesn't mean that Stephen Strange was in his right mind."

An audible intake of breath erupted in the Sanctum's foyer as the other sorcerers and practiced people heard Wong's sharp words. I let them sink in for a moment as I lowered my gaze from Wong's clearly overwrought face. I stared at the wooden floor beneath me, feeling all eyes on me.

"I…I've offered _several_ times for you to take this stupid thing…but you won't do it. I don't know what else to tell you because every time I think things are going to be okay…they suddenly seem like they won't again. I'm sorry, Wong." I said, not taking my eyes from the ground at my slippered feet. There was nothing but remaining silence in the wide front room of the Sanctum, no one speaking or even moving.

Finally I looked to my side to see that Dan was discreetly motioning to me. He nodded upwards toward the stairs, his eyes looking around cautiously at the surrounding people. I followed his gaze toward the grand staircase and when I looked back down at him confusedly, he rolled his eyes lightly and then cleared his throat sheepishly.

"What if we all take a breather and spread out to strengthen the wards over the Sanctum? Maybe do a run through and make sure no alien ladies are hanging around in the mansion." Dan suggested loud enough so that everyone around us could hear him.

"That sounds okay to me." Peter said eagerly, when no one moved or said anything right away. He flicked his wrist and shot a string of web towards the ceiling and swung himself up the second floor energetically. I looked back over at Wong whose gaze had followed Spiderman and was now slowly looking away distantly, many heavy thoughts clearly passing through his mind. The surrounding sorcerers seemed to be waiting his response, because when he finally nodded warily, the crowd began to disperse, breaking into groups of two or three and trailing down hallways and through adjoining doorways. Dan tapped my injured shoulder gently to get my attention and then motioned for me to follow him towards the staircase where I could see that Peter was waiting at the top, his wide white eyes looking around at the artifacts and décor up there. As we climbed the stairs, I was distantly aware that Casey and Grayson had stayed down in the foyer with Wong who was still standing motionless in thoughtful silence.

"We're taking orders from kids now, are we?" Grayson's voice drifted up to me as he gently prodded Wong to speak. I made myself keep looking straight ahead as Dan and I reached the second level, but my heart fell suddenly as I heard the sorcerer who had trained us finally speak.

"For the first time in my life…I'm not certain about what needs to be done."

* * *

"Are you guys sure you want to hang out with me for this clean sweep we're doing? I might hallucinate and fire something at the next wall that moves." I said drily as Peter, Dan and I chose to investigate one of the many hallways at the top of the stairs.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with seeing things." Dan said sarcastically as he chanced opening the first door on the right side of the hallway. He stuck his head into the room and after seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he closed it back again seconds later.

"Well, not necessarily. Thanos was making all sorts of weird things happen with that Gauntlet. Some of it didn't seem to be real…But Doctor Strange really took care of some of that stuff." Peter said, stopping as he recalled the battle that had occurred for him just a little while ago.

"The Reality Stone." Dan muttered thoughtfully as we continued on our way down the hall. "As the name states, it allows the manipulator to control Reality. Kinda creepy if you think about it."

"Do you think he's able to use it from wherever he is to mess with my head here? Maybe that's why I saw Proxima Midnight earlier." I suggested, trying to make sense of the whole hallucination I'd had in the dorm room.

"I don't know. But why else would you see her when the rest of us didn't?" Peter asked, stopping to peer curiously at a worn painting that hung crookedly on the wall to the left of the hallway.

"Maybe because I was watching out for her?" I guessed, shrugging slightly and rubbing at my bandaged shoulder as a dull pain throbbed through it. "I'm honestly really not looking forward to facing her or her spear thing again."

"Neither am I." Dan said under his breath as he opened yet another door to look into a room that was cast in a pink glow. He blinked against the bright light and I tried to peer over his shoulder to see what he had found, but after a moment he closed it again and resumed walking skeptically.

"You know…this mansion is pretty awesome. You guys sure have been lucky to be here this whole time while this scary 'end of the world' stuff is going on." Peter said as he straightened the painting with his gloved finger. As soon as the painting reached the point where it looked straight on the wall, there was an audible click and a section of the wall at the end of the hallway pushed outwards, startling the three of us.

"Yeah…" I said in response to his comment, my gaze trained carefully on the section of wall that had been removed. It was roughly the size of a doorway, and I glanced to Dan quizzically.

"Secret passageway?" Dan guessed lightheartedly. I blinked and nodded absently, looking to Peter whose mask retracted back to reveal his startled expression. He looked at the two of us, waiting for our reaction.

"Y-You two didn't know that would happen?" He asked as he looked back and forth between us and the door in the wall. We simultaneously shook our heads in answer and he straightened himself with authority. "Well…I guess that means we have to go investigate it then."

"…Right." Dan and I replied together. Moving as one, the three of us headed slowly down the quiet hallway and towards the open section of wall before us.

_"Curious boys…" _

_ "How wonderful…who let them venture by themselves again?" _

_ "They really love getting into trouble don't they?" _

As we neared the doorway, I heard the familiar hushed whispers that I had discovered earlier in the morning when I had been with Wong. I tore my gaze away from the waiting secret passage to seek out which direction the voices were coming from this time. I paused by a doorway on my left and rested my hand on the doorknob.

"Hey Dan…did you know that this Sanctum has ghosts?" I asked casually. Dan and Peter both stopped, intrigued and I heard the voices on the other side of the door start up again.

_"He's going to do it…" _

_ "Not again! We just got comfortable in here!" _

_ "Oh I don't think I like this boy…" _

"Woah…" Peter breathed as he heard the ghostly voices. His eyes looked from me to the doorknob where my hand lay ready to twist it open.

"No…I wasn't aware of that…but then, that really doesn't surprise me very much after seeing what kind of stuff goes on in this place." Dan said amusedly, crossing his arms expectantly. Peter looked suddenly worried at our relaxed attitudes.

"Hey…ghosts are bad…aren't they?!" Peter asked, watching as I slowly turned the doorknob. He leapt back in preparation before I had even cracked the door open. "I don't think we should mess with them!"

He was drowned out by the sound of cannon fire and then the three of us were nearly shoved off of our feet by a wave of cool air. Seeing nothing else out of the ordinary in the room the invisible ghosts had erupted out of, I closed the door and grinned devilishly as I heard the cannon blast from downstairs somewhere across the building. Peter stood with his back pressed against the opposite wall, his hand clutched over his chest and his already frizzed hair stuck up in every direction from the blast of wind. Dan was peeling himself off of the wall as well, with an amused laugh escaping him.

"Wow…wonder what Strange keeps them around for?" Dan said after another easy laugh. Peter looked between us both with a look of disgust.

"That wasn't very funny…what if they had hurt us?" He asked, looking down the hall in the direction the blast of air had retreated to.

"I found them earlier this morning. Wong wasn't freaked out by them so I figure they're no real danger. Kinda funny how they just jump from room to room though." I explained as we resumed walking down the hall towards the revealed passageway.

"Yeah…we've kinda gotten used to weird things going on here. We almost drowned in the library last night." Dan said, his voice picking up with a little excitement at the end. Peter stopped once more and stared at Dan in disbelief.

"You're kidding. _Why?_" He asked, intrigued. Dan shrugged and looked at me as we remembered how really scared we had both been in that moment.

"Training exercise." I answered him simply. "Wong's idea."

"Wow." Peter said in awe. Then he shrugged in acceptance. "Well, with the little bit of time I spent with Doctor Strange and from seeing what he was capable of…I guess I could see that with the kinda company he keeps too."

"Yeah." I said softly as we finally reached the end of the hallway and the secret passageway. I paused and then looked back at Peter and Dan who seemed to be waiting for me as well. I glanced down at the invisible Time Stone on my chest and then conjured up a golden mandala to light the way in the dark hole in the wall. "You guys ready to explore?"

"Always." Peter said unsurely as Dan nodded halfheartedly. I looked back one last time, hearing nothing but silence in the hallway around us. When neither Dan nor Peter voiced any last minute objections, I shrugged unsteadily and led the way into the secret passageway. Upon passing through the doorway, I was aware that my glowing mandala provided no light whatsoever.

"Okay…never mind…" I said quickly, turning back and shoving into Peter and Dan who were right behind me. That was when I noticed that the doorway that led back to the lighted hallway was gone and that we were stuck in the total darkness of the secret passageway.


	17. Secret Passageway

"Alright, um…let's not freak out…" I muttered as Dan, Peter and I groped for each other's arms in the pitch blackness. I tried to flick my wrist to summon up another golden mandala shield but as soon as it winked into view, the darkness seemed to snuff it out again.

"Let me try," Dan said, determined. The same happened to him and I felt a finger stab into my chest.

"Ow!" I protested, smacking the hand away defensively.

"Sorry, I was gonna say, try to summon the Time Stone and see if that glows." Dan said. I felt around on my chest for the invisible Time Stone and I moved my hands in front of myself as I'd done before. I could feel a dull burn of the Stone's built up power, but not so much as a spark of green could be seen in the suffocating dark.

"I can't even see with the suit!" Peter said, exasperation sounding in his worried voice. "Mr. Stark had night vision and everything put into this and even that's not working! I'm relying on my spider senses but that's not going to be good enough for all three of us."

"Did either of you see anything at all before that secret door shut?" I asked hurriedly, feeling around the blank space with my hands.

"No, the doorway was so narrow I could only see the back of your head." Dan said and I could feel his elbow bump into my side as he too felt around wildly with his hands.

"We've gotta move around, see if there's a switch or something." Peter suggested hopefully. I shook my head, unseen in the darkness as we stayed close together in our searching blindness.

"I really doubt there's just going to be a light switch hanging around in here." I said under my breath.

"Well there has to be something." Dan said unsurely.

"This wasn't in your visions for today, huh?" I asked him loudly as the three of us fumbled around, tripping over each other's feet because we were too afraid to drift too far away from each other.

"Visions?" Peter's confused voice sounded from a few feet away. "This place causes you to have visions? I don't know if I'd be sticking around here too long if I were you guys…"

"No Alex, I didn't see this happening." Dan said almost bitterly from my left. I turned in his direction and walked forward a few steps with my hands held out in front of me.

"I was just asking, man. We're kinda stuck here until we find some –"

My face collided with a very solid wall as I turned to follow the muffled footsteps of one of my colleagues and I let out a startled curse as I reached for my nose where a sharp pain was pulsing throughout my face.

"What happened?! Who was that?!" Dan asked quickly and I heard scrambled but careful footsteps move slowly in my direction. I pressed my hand against my face, squeezing my eyes shut against the easing pain and then reached my other hand out to brace against the unseen wall in front of me in the darkness.

"It was me…I…found a wall over here." I said, massaging my nose which thankfully hadn't started bleeding from the sudden abuse. Both Dan and Peter were there by my side in seconds, and I heard them feeling around for the wall in front of them too.

"Great!" Peter said lightheartedly, nudging me in the other direction. "Now all we have to do is walk along this wall here until we reach a doorway or a curve or something. I think I can sense a bigger space a little ways down that way."

"Right." I agreed unsteadily, suddenly hating that they were making me lead the way along the wall. Beneath my fingertips the wall just felt like any regular wall, not stone like down in the underground tunnels, but not the polished wood like the interior of the Sanctum had either. As we inched a few yards further, I frowned in the darkness as I tried to place the texture of the surface.

"Is this…wall paper?" I called quietly over my shoulder.

"Kinda feels like it…" Dan said from the other side of Peter who was silent behind me.

"Have you seen wallpaper on any of the walls since we've been here?" I asked again.

"…No…I don't think so. Why?" Dan sounded a little nervous.

"You guys haven't seen the whole mansion yet have you?" Peter suggested in my ear. "Maybe this leads to a secret room where Strange goes to meditate or whatever."

"Hang on." I hissed, stopping in my tracks as my hands felt a protrusion from the wall. I cautiously crept my fingers over the surface and felt a doorway. I ran my hand along the wooden surface of the door and reached for the point where I imagined the doorknob might be.

"Is it a way out?" Dan asked, having pushed Peter closer to me so that he could feel the door jutting out of the wall too. I frowned again as I noticed that the door was apparently missing a handle and I knocked on the wood to see if it was even hollow. When the echoing sound of a space on the other side of the wall confirmed my confused speculation, I turned back to the two people accompanying me in the darkness.

"What's that sound?" Peter asked suddenly before I could say anything suggesting about ways we could try and get into that room. Dan and I went silent again listening for what he was referring to. "Do either of you hear it? It's like a high pitched twinkly sound…"

"A…_twinkly_ sound?" I repeated slightly amused, but confused. I felt Peter step by me, moving me out of the way of the section of wall that was supposed to be a door.

"It's coming from in there, I think…or somewhere nearby…" Peter said and I heard him tap and knock on the handless door a few times before he stepped back with both arms spread out to push Dan and me back as well. "I bet I could break through this…"

"Wait! There's gotta be another way in…we might not want to mess around with stuff in here. If we break something, there could be some bad voodoo that gets released. I don't know about you both, but I'm not too eager to take that chance. Let's keep moving until we find some other way in." Dan suggested quickly.

I moved forward once more to rest my hands against the wall and we continued our haphazard shuffling along in the pitch black space. When we came to what felt like a corner, I paused to tap my knuckles along the surface of the wall.

"Do you still hear that noise, Peter?" Dan asked quietly from behind me.

"It's faint, but yeah. It's like it's coming from the other side of this wall we're walking along..." Peter answered slowly.

"There's a corner up here, guys. Just a heads up…" I said as I proceeded forward a few feet and rounded the curve.

"You know…I don't think this passage is following the structure of the hallway outside. I've been thinking that for a little bit now…" Peter said thoughtfully. I frowned to myself as I considered his speculation.

"Again, this place doesn't really follow the rules of physics…" I said, once more trying to summon up a golden shield in an attempt to bring forth some light in the blackness. When it unsurprisingly still didn't work, I summoned up a blast of telekinetic energy and fired it straight in front of us to see if it would even work. No light was produced from the action, but I did hear a sudden crash from several feet in front of us.

"What did I say about not breaking things?!" Dan exclaimed in surprise from behind me. Peter muttered something to that effect under his breath and then tapped me on the shoulder.

"Whatever you just did…you blasted through some sort of room up ahead!" He said excitedly. I squinted through the darkness in even further confusion, seeing no change it whatever had just happened.

"How can you tell? I thought you said that your suit was malfunctioning." I said.

"When you blasted through there, it's like the system in here rebooted. I can see everything now…and the twinkly sound is super loud too!" Peter said. I felt him move past me to walk forward and I reached behind me to grab for Dan's arm so we wouldn't lose each other in the dark.

"Wait up!" I called quietly after Peter.

"It's just a few yards further, keep coming straight ahead." I heard him call from in front of us. Dan and I walked hesitantly after him, not wanting to be left behind. "Okay, now…just watch your step right here, there's a–"

Just as Peter uttered the warning, Dan and I stumbled past where Peter stood near the hole I had blasted in the wall. Still unable to see anything, I frantically grabbed for Peter's arm or even the broken wall on the other side of me to steady my lost footing but when my hand fell through open air, I felt myself lean forward uncontrollably as if I'd been pulled. Expecting to hit the floor on the inside of the hole in the wall, I threw my hands out beneath me but the impact didn't happen.

_"Alex!"_ I heard Dan cry out as his grip on my good shoulder loosened and then released me. I felt like I was floating and falling at the same time, but no air rushed by my face in the darkness to signal that I was moving.

_"Dan…what's happening?! Peter?!" _I exclaimed as I kicked around in the odd floating space, feeling for anything I could grab onto to pull me back to solid ground.

_"Hang on you guys!"_ I heard Peter yell from somewhere far above us. I tried to look up in the direction I'd heard him, but there was still nothing in the stifling black that surrounded me.

"Please hurry! I think I'm gonna be sick…" Dan said from a little ways above me. I waved my hands away from him as if trying to swim through the air away from him.

"Not while I'm below you!" I shouted up to him seriously.

"I don't like this…Why did we – _ack!_" Dan was suddenly cut off in midsentence and I looked up through the darkness hurriedly thinking that the worst had happened.

"Dan?! What – _ugh!_"

I was jerked upward roughly and my breath and stomach seemed to have been left down in whatever space I had fallen into to begin with. The next thing I knew, I collided with the floor and I quickly scrambled to my feet, hearing Dan complaining somewhere to my left.

"What- what was that?!" I blurted out once I had braced myself against a wall carefully.

"I tried to warn you guys…" Peter said sheepishly close by. I felt him push me around and a forceful jerk on my upper back as he yanked what I assumed was his artificial webbing that had pulled us back up to the hallway. "You broke through to some kind of weird elevator shaft…"

"This place doesn't have an elevator." Dan said, feeling around to make it over to Peter and me against the wall.

"Were we falling? Because it felt like it, but then it also…didn't…" I said thoughtfully.

"It was like you were floating downward slowly. I also found this…" Peter took my right wrist and made me run my hand over some weird inscription etched onto the wall. I felt around trying to make sense of what it said then finally frowned in frustration.

"What does it say?" I asked him impatiently.

"Well, it's in another foreign language. It took me a second, but my online sources finally translated it from Latin to read 'Death to Magic'…I think this place has a magic-free border, which would explain that weird sound i keep hearing. That elevator shaft you guys fell into was like the entryway to a prison for magical beings I think…" Peter said thoughtfully, sounding like he was reading something.

"…Your suit told you that much?" Dan asked, breaking the odd silence that followed.

"Well yeah…it's basically an artificial intelligent suit…" Peter said slowly. I looked in the direction where I had been pulled up from the hole in the wall, still unable to see through the never-ending darkness.

"So…when I blasted that hole through there, does that mean that those magical prisoners will be able to escape?" I asked, not really expecting that Peter would know the answer to that.

"No."

The three of us jumped back against the wall in surprise as Wong's voice loudly emanated from a few yards away.

"Wong?!" I called hesitantly, trying to summon my shields which still didn't glow or light up the space in front of me.

"What are you three doing in here? How did you find this place?" Wong said, his voice once more calm and collected. I could hear his soft slippered footsteps growing closer as he walked over to join us. "I thought we were in agreement that you still need preparing for the coming intruders."

"You keep an endless floating prison in your own house?!" I exclaimed, pointing in the general direction where I thought the hole in the wall was. In the process of gesturing in that direction, my elbow bumped into Dan's chin and he protested, irritated.

"Watch it…"

"Sorry. But is that really what that is?" I asked Wong again.

"First of all, the wall you recklessly damaged is in _that_ direction," Wong's hand grabbed my wrist and moved it so that I pointed the opposite way. "And yes. The Sorcerer Supreme has access to the punishment of misusers of magic. I can assure you that you boys would definitely not want to find out what lies at the end of that endless fall."

"I'll take your word for it." Peter said lightly from my right.

"Come on, let's get you boys out of here. We don't have long now." Wong said hurriedly and I heard the swish of a portal sounding from in front of us.

"How? None of our magic is working in here, how can you see to do that?" I exclaimed as Wong ushered the three of us forward. He paused and I heard him chuckle in response.

"A simple nocturnal vision spell does the trick. You must apply it _before_ you enter this space however, because even in the passageway leading to the shaft the borders dull the ability to conjure spells. I would highly suggest you refrain from coming through here again however, because undertrained beings like yourselves would have to wander around here in the dark until you either find your own way out which is doubtful, or you meander into something you won't be able to get yourself out of, almost like what Peter here helped you escape from." Wong said lightly. I slouched my shoulders sheepishly in the pitch blackness, knowing that Wong would be able to see me.

"That hole in the wall won't be a problem, will it?" Dan asked again as Wong continued ushering us forward, where I could hear the swish of the portal Wong had conjured in the darkness.

"No, it won't. Anything that may be able crawl all the way back up out of there will have to face the same things you boys just went through. But to escape would be impossible, so there's no worries there." Wong said. "Mind your eyes…"

I cringed as I went through portal first and blinked at the sudden light that met us. We had reemerged back in the hallway we had originally been in, and I noticed the picture that Peter had straightened to reveal the passageway was now once more off kilter on the wall up ahead.

"Well, that was fun while it lasted. A new lesson everywhere we turn, right guys?" Peter said lightheartedly as he retracted his mask to reveal his wide surprised eyes and honestly freaked out expression. Dan and I exchanged glances and then I shrugged with a sigh.

"I just hope that –" My words were drowned out as a low rumble shook the building followed by an ear-shattering explosion towards the front of the Sanctum. Wong's face was an instant mask of defense and he rushed down the hallway toward the stairs, with the three of us tailing him. As we reached the top of the staircase, I paused alongside Dan and Peter, watching as Wong spread both of his hands above his head and quickly threw some sort of rejuvenating ward to aid in the damaged spells that had been hit outside. A large shadow fell over the extravagant window in the ceiling and I cringed as yet another explosion shook the Sanctum. The wards thankfully held once more and I turned to Dan as Wong and a large group of sorcerers on the ground floor below prepared for the next blow. Dan met my gaze, suddenly crestfallen again as he confirmed my suspicions.

"This is it."


	18. The First Strike

**Hello friends! Things have started to slow down at my job for the season and I'm actually kinda thankful because it's given me time this week to really sit down and work through a good majority of these next few chapters. I was too excited to wait another day or two to update when I usually do, so I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry if it's a little short, but I promise that the next one will make up for it! As always, please review or PM me if you have any questions or comments! :D**

I winced as another explosion rang out through the Sanctum and I almost stumbled as another explosion followed directly after that one. Shouts of frantic orders sounded from the sorcerers on the ground floor below and I looked up to see that Wong was already in motion, waving his arms in the midst of strengthening the waning protective wards over the building.

"What can I do to help?!" I shouted up to him, attempting to copy his movements so that I too could use my ability to aid him.

"We've gotta get to the front windows down below…they'll try to come through there first!" Dan said, pointing down the stairs to where a group of sorcerers were pacing back and forth between the windows in the front of the building, shooting what looked like invisible weapons up through the wall to whatever was outside.

I flicked both of my shields into existence and quickly followed Dan as he rushed down the steps to the point he had indicated.

_"Look out!"_ Peter's voice cried after me and I paused to see what had caused him to shout. Looking upward, I noticed that the large chandelier that hung over the grand staircase wobbled unsteadily in the ceiling from the numerous blows to the exterior of the Sanctum. I quickened my pace down the steps as yet another explosion shook the building and with a deafening crack, the chandelier snapped free from the chain above my head. I braced my feet on the steps below me and hunched down underneath my shields which thankfully held back most of the debris that flew my way. There was a thwack that rang out and instantly the chandelier was pulled off of me and tossed down to an unoccupied corner of the room below. I lowered my shields from over my head and nodded my thanks to Peter before I continued down the stairs to join Dan at one of the front windows.

"What are we preparing for? Is somebody gonna bust through the wall or something?" I asked once I reached Dan's side. He lifted up his arms and the whole window started to glow intensely with a golden light. I frowned and then followed Dan's lead, enforcing the one window with a very large shield. I peered through the glass at the small bit of sky in front of us and spotted the circular spaceship that Dan and I had seen from before hovering very close above the buildings in front of the Sanctum.

"Get ready…" Dan said under his breath, and he looked up towards the ceiling as if he was listening for something. Before I could tear my gaze away from the spaceship above, I saw that some oddly shaped missile was fired towards us, shooting rapidly through the air like an oversized dart. As it grew closer to the building, I could see that a huge arm burst forward from its tip. As if on cue, there was a violent shudder and the sound of shattering glass and splintering wood echoed from the floors above us.

"Why didn't we –" Before I could finish my sentence, the rest of the missile swung into view just outside of the window where Dan and I stood, bracing against our giant shields. Like a battering ram, the alien metal collided through the protective wards outside, and broke through the window. I pressed my shields against the debris, Dan at my side and we only stepped back when the thing had finally settled.

"Alexander, Daniel – _back away from that!_" Casey's voice drifted across the room to me. I looked back to see that she was teleporting from the second level, having just left another group of sorcerers to deal with the first blow upstairs. In the next instant she was in front of us, pushing us back from the protruding object.

"I'll handle this." Wong said calmly, stepping forward to wave his hands over the surface of the huge chunk of metal. Casey followed his lead and simultaneously they punched forward with glowing fists and the missile exploded in the containment of the shields they had placed over it.

Then everything seemed to go to pieces.

Dan and I moved forward to help Wong and Casey to quickly reinforce the boundaries that had been broken over the Sanctum outside. As soon as the metal projectile had been reduced to ash under Casey's and Wong's magical skill, the Sanctum was instantly infiltrated with dozens of dog-like beasts that lunged forward once their way was cleared. Thankfully, Dan and I had our shields up and ready and we both fired in each direction as the alien beasts tried to pour through the large gaping hole in the front of the Sanctum.

_"Save your strength!"_ Wong hissed, stepping back and pushing us with him. Confused, I stopped my firing and then noticed that as soon as the monsters had stepped into the Sanctum, they exploded in a puff of golden light. Casey held back for just a moment to see that the interior wards were in working order before she threw a quick blast of red that wove into a wide arc in the space around the broken window.

"This will hold, but not for long–Grayson took care of the intrusion upstairs. I'm going to help the others in the attic. There's a weak spot that they might go for up there…" Casey said quickly to Wong who nodded abruptly. She turned to Dan and me, a fierce look on her face. "You two–I want you to go for the center of the Sanctum. The training room may be a good idea for now, and don't leave there until Wong –"

Casey's voice was cut off suddenly with a sharp cry that died in her throat and her wide eyes looked instantly down to her middle where a very familiar three-pointed spear protruded from the folds of her robes. Her eyebrows pinched together in delayed agony and she whipped around to throw a huge explosion of golden light to Proxima Midnight who stood calmly on the sidewalk outside the Sanctum.

_"C-Casey!"_ I cried as I darted forward to catch the young woman before she could fall forward on the spear and cause herself further pain.

"Go for the center of the Sanctum, as she said!" Wong ordered me and Dan as he rushed past us to block Proxima Midnight's entrance to the building.

"Alex, we have to go – _come on!"_ Dan pleaded, lingering as I hesitantly helped Casey to lay on her side so as to not drive the spear further into herself. Blood soaked through her robes, yet she was still struggling to conjure the magical borders and bonds to ward off the persistent intruders.

"What can I do? Oh God, _what can I do?!"_ I asked Casey hurriedly as I conjured my shields and covered us both when another explosion hit the building. The debris showered down around us and I cried out as the large wooden front door was blown inward ramming into my side and causing me to tumble a few yards away from where Casey lay struggling.

"We've gotta move!" Dan shouted over the commotion of sorcerers fighting back in the foyer around us. I stumbled to my feet and moved to run back to Casey's side but Dan grabbed me roughly by my injured shoulder and I winced in pain as I was forced to listen to him. "She's gone, Alex – there's nothing we can do for her!"

I cried out in terrified anguish as another explosion shook the Sanctum, blasting through the large window overhead. Through the settling debris, I could see that Casey was no longer moving and that her face was turned in our direction. The bright, taunting gleam in her eyes that had ticked me off during our practice battle before was now replaced with a dying emptiness and I choked out a fearful sob as she mouthed her last order.

_"Go." _

I turned away to follow Dan further into the Sanctum, dodging debris as it was blown in by the alien attackers outside. Dimly I could see that Grayson was rushing down the staircase, hands raised as a blast of what looked like red lightning shot towards the broken window behind us. As we ran down the dizzying hallway of glass cabinets I quickly noticed that unfortunately most of them had been broken by the reverberations of each explosion against the magnificent mansion. One of the cabinets lay face down on the wooden floor and I carefully sidestepped around it, not wanting to imagine what terrifying artifacts had been damaged or destroyed from the fall.

"Hang on…" Dan said before we could reach the end of the hallway. He turned and hurriedly reached into one of the shattered cabinets to retrieve the walking stick that had caught his attention before. At his touch the thing seemed to come alive, wriggling and flailing its tail back and forth as the stick-turned-snake hissed and protested under his hold.

"Dan, I don't know about that thing…just leave it…" I said, edging down the hall as my gaze flickered to the foyer where I could see that Proxima Midnight had somehow gained entrance to the interior of the Sanctum. So far, she hadn't been blown to smithereens like the monster dogs had been so apparently the wards on the inside of the Sanctum were down as well.

Dan gripped the head of the stick snake firmly and leaned closer down to utter what sounded like some kind of incantation. Instantly the snake went rigid once more, not like it had transformed back into the walking stick, but like it was obediently awaiting its master's command. He studied the snake for a long moment before he nodded to me and we continued retreating down the hallway toward the center of the building like Casey had ordered us to.

"Did you find some passages on Parseltongue while you were reading?" I asked Dan in a halfhearted joke as we darted into one of the rooms that broke off at the end of the hall.

"Hardly." He retorted bitterly. As we entered the large training room where Wong had worked his hardest to prepare us for what we were facing now, there was a crash from above us. Dan and I were thrown back against the wall by the door we had just come through, wood and glass and other debris raining down from a narrow hole in the ceiling above us. I leapt to my feet quickly and summoned up my mandala shields as I noticed a thin figure crouched in the midst of the settling debris.

"We don't have what you're looking for, so get your sorry blue alien lady self out of here if you don't want to die a really painful death!" I blurted out, frustrated and bluffing horribly. Proxima Midnight had wounded and very likely killed Casey just moments ago, and I was not looking forward to facing her with fear in my eyes. As the figure straightened, and turned in my direction, I suddenly found that I was mistaken in thinking that Proxima Midnight was the one standing before us. This alien figure was slightly shorter in stature than she was and wore a hooded cloak that caused him to look even creepier than she did. He too, sported an elongated staff with blades on either end and he tapped it boredly on the piled of debris that he climbed out of. He smirked down at me and Dan as he read our expressions.

"You must be trying to threaten my sister. Such intimidation doesn't work well on me, I'm afraid."


	19. Against the Alien Siblings

"Right. Of course she'd bring her brother as backup." I hissed to my left where Dan stood holding his snake-staff in frozen confrontation. I glanced quickly to my left, barely taking my gaze off of the hooded alien guy in front of me. "Did you know she had a brother?"

"Well, Thanos is her dad so I guess it's like a whole demented family or something." Dan muttered, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"You dare speak his name?" The alien man growled tauntingly as he stepped forward. I snapped my attention back in his direction and held my arms out cautiously.

"We've never met the guy so I guess it's not okay to mention him, I'm sorry…" I said hurriedly, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I gestured to him, eyes wide with feigned innocence. "But I assume he's your dad, so I guess if you won't tell us your name then we're gonna settle for Junior?"

My lighthearted banter struck a nerve with the pale hooded man, as I knew it would and he dove straight for the two of us in his fury. Dan and I dodged out of the way, and I quickly conjured up the illusion of invisibility over me and Dan while I also created doubles of us to hopefully confuse our attacker. The doubles stood crouched a few yards on either side of the alien guy as if we had rolled out of the way and weren't able to decide what to do next. The real Dan and I ran as quickly and quietly as we could to the opposite side of the room and I gestured for Dan to copy my movements, unseen by the alien guy.

"You make this too easy!" The man cried out as he swung his blade in the direction of my double first. The illusion shimmered and then rematerialized a few feet away, and as I suspected, the alien had already moved to attack Dan's double before he noticed the trick. Angered, he whirled to where the new doubles now stood and repeated his strikes.

"Thanks…so do you!" I retorted smartly. The alien's head swiveled around as he realized that my voice wasn't connected to the doubles he kept seeing disappear and reappear around him. As he turned in our direction, I allowed the two of us to become visible to him long enough for him to see our attack coming. Red whips shot forth from my palms and my heart nearly skipped a beat as I saw the tendrils wrap obediently around the hooded alien's weapon. Dan's whips were a smidge off their mark, and instead of latching onto the double bladed staff like mine had, they instead coiled around the alien's head. Before the man could react, I yanked the spear out of his hands and Dan yanked his whips back towards himself as well. The alien's head slammed comically to the debris covered ground at his feet and the creature let out an infuriated growl as Dan and I choked out our amused laughter.

"Enough!" The hooded figure rasped once he had leapt back to his feet. Dark alien blood streamed down his face and his dark eyes gleamed similarly like Proxima Midnights. The family resemblance was beginning to show clearer to me as his weapon started to rise from the floor by my side, called by its master. I quickly lunged forward and stepped on one end of the double-bladed spear before it could be summoned back to the alien's grasp, and my hands worked automatically to weave a golden blade over my right fist. Not questioning what my own hands were doing, I stabbed downward, cleaving the staff into two separate pieces. I swirled my hands which reverberated with golden energy and was amazed when the two halves of the alien's weapon flew upwards and exploded into glowing dust against the high ceiling at my will.

"Nice!" Dan commented as he grabbed up his snake staff and turned to the hooded alien who was in the process of running to leap across the room at the both of us. While the figure was in midair, Dan uttered a few commands to his snake staff and tossed it towards the approaching alien.

The snake opened its wide mouth in a fierce hiss and the hooded figure moved his hand up to block the magical snake's strike as he collided with it and landed on the ground a few yards in front of us. I conjured up my shields and noticed that as soon as they formed, they shifted into glowing overlarge blades shielding my fists. Dan stood by my side, and raised his hand up, telling me to wait. I stared at the figure writhing on the ground from where he had originally landed on his feet. Now he was struggling to break free from the snake-staff, which seemed to be coiling and recoiling itself around each of the alien's limbs.

"What is it doing?!" I exclaimed, daring to lower my stance to look worriedly over to Dan who was watching the figure in awe. He slowly shook his head as the hooded alien attempted to struggle to his feet under the snake's tight grip.

"Um…I think we'd better go…" Dan said hollowly, clapping a hand on my shoulder as he turned back to the door, not tearing his gaze away from the writhing sight in front of us. I nodded in agreement and rushed back for the door, not bothering to stop and open it for the two of us in our haste. I raised my hands and swirled a portal into existence that led straight through the wall. We were transported to the hallway outside once more, with just a small window of sight to the battle raging in the foyer of the Sanctum.

Wong was currently trying to face off Proxima Midnight in our line of sight. Sorcerers bounded through the air on large golden discs, coming down on the few monster dogs that had managed to get into the mansion. Proxima Midnight delivered what looked like a very painful blow to Wong's head with the butt of her spear, sending the sorcerer to his knees. His shield came up instinctively but thinking quickly, I decided to throw the blue alien woman a curve ball.

"Let's take that…" I said under my breath, swirling a small dinner-plate sized portal into existence just behind where Dan and I stood. "And send it over here…"

Dan looked curiously at the small portal and then followed my gaze to where Proxima Midnight was coming down with her weapon to strike Wong again. The same sized portal flashed into view between the weapon and Wong, collecting her triple headed spear before it could hit its intended target. I closed the small portals abruptly and winced as I heard a dull thud from behind me. I turned to see that the spear had been transported to the room where Proxima Midnight's ensnared brother still struggled, the three-bladed weapon wedged deeply into the wall opposite the doorway we looked through.

Dan quickly closed the larger portal through the wall in case the alien woman came looking for it or her brother and we dodged into the next room before anyone could spot us.

"We are freaking _awesome!_" I exclaimed under my breath in disbelief, adrenaline coursing through me. Dan let out a relieved chuckle with the realization that we hadn't died yet.

"We've gotta figure out our next move…you know Proxima Midnight is gonna be back here any second now." He said, instantly back in business mode. Noticing that we had ended up in the kitchen, I pointed for the doorway on the opposite side of the room.

"If we go that way, we can go for the tunnels again." I suggested hurriedly. Dan looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head.

"That's an idea, but then what if we get down there with nowhere to go? That cave-in was something I'm not willing to go through again…"

"Right…but what if we could trap_ them_ down there instead?" I persisted to plot. I jumped as a crash sounded from the next room over. Dan and I quickly ducked behind the counter closest by us as a tall, lanky figure crept past the open doorway. I recognized Proxima Midnight's long-haired silhouette as she turned in our direction as if considering searching the kitchen.

_"S-Sister…"_ A choked voice sounded from the next room over. Proxima Midnight's head turned swiftly in the direction of her brother's struggling pleas and in an instant she was gone to presumably rescue him from the snake-staff's death grip.

_"Move!"_ I hissed to Dan, pushing him in the opposite direction. He obliged, running for the double-doors where we could escape into the open and hopefully deserted hallway towards the back of the mansion. When we reached the doors, I turned as another crash sounded from the hallway behind us. Dan jerked open the one of the doors in front of us as soundlessly as he could and jumped back, shoving me back and nearly into the large dining table behind us.

"Hello boys."

Proxima Midnight stood in front of us with her retrieved spear in one hand, resting casually along her shoulders. Her other hand shoved Dan backwards as she stepped into the room and I quickly pulled him back towards the large dining table.

"Decided to come back for another taste, huh?" I said quickly, flashing my blade-shields into readiness as she approached. Her taunting eyes gleamed as her scarred mouth stretched into a further grimace of dislike. Her beady eyes flicked past us for a brief second and Dan whirled around to face our other attacker as we were suddenly trapped back to back with a foe on either side of us. There was a solid thud on the table behind me and I assumed that the other alien had leapt up on top of it to get a more powerful stance over us.

"I see you've met Corvus…" Proxima Midnight growled, sounding genuinely unhappy with having to have rescued her brother from the snake-staff. There was an equally furious grunt from the hooded alien approaching from the other side of us.

"Stop playing with them, Proxima…that was your mistake last time, was it not?" The alien called Corvus Glaive said in mild annoyance. His boot steps sounded on the polished wooden table behind me as he slowly made his way toward us. Dan jabbed his elbow into my back but I refrained from turning to look at him, not wanting to look away from the evil blue woman in front of me.

"Illusion…" Dan hissed to me over his shoulder. I stared thoughtfully ahead at Proxima Midnight who scowled at her brother's ordering tone as she lowered her spear from off of her shoulders. Dan turned his voice up slightly to mask the message he had given me and I couldn't believe the retort he had for the two very threatening aliens surrounding us. "Who got the good looks in your family? Obviously it wasn't either of you…"

_"Silence!"_ Corvus Glaive exploded, having seemed to lunge toward Dan angrily. I heard the swish of Dan's conjured shields as the alien's blow landed against them. Dan pressed his back further into mine and nudged me again. Thinking quickly, I felt the tingle of magic spread over me and mentally pushed it behind me towards Dan as well. Proxima Midnight seemed to notice my brief distraction because she narrowed her eyes and moved a step closer. I quickly snapped my direct attention back to her, still feeling the pulse of magic unseen by our foes around the two of us.

"Where is the Time Stone?" She asked me directly, noticing the empty space over my chest where the Time Stone lay invisible by Casey's illusion. I shrugged nonchalantly at her, forcing my gaze to stay firm and collected.

"Did you check up front? I thought Grayson had it." I quipped.

"It's all the rage now…" Dan said, catching on to my lighthearted bantering. "Everyone's wearing them."

As soon as Proxima Midnight lunged toward me with her raised spear, I ducked and rolled out of her path, feeling Dan behind me doing the same. Masked by the illusion I had cast, we both ducked underneath the table where Corvus Glaive still stood. The doubles that I had created of me and Dan dashed away from Proxima Midnight's blow, summoning up imaginary golden shields at my will as if they were really us. Dan, realizing that I was struggling to mentally hold on with making the illusions stay believable, sent a golden-fisted punch at the dining table above us. The wooden table flew upwards with the force of his blow, exploding as it struck the ceiling above us with Corvus Glaive hopefully in the midst of it.

"Watch out guys!" A familiar voice shouted from the front of the kitchen. There was a thwack and a big chunk of the falling table was yanked backwards from our shielded doubles as Spiderman's web prevented it from harming them. Unfortunately, the discarded piece of webbed table debris headed straight for the real pair of us. Dan was quick to shield us both from it, but my concentration flickered briefly, making the real two of us visible for a few beats.

_"There!"_ Corvus Glaive growled as he landed on the ground a few yards from us, unscathed from the magical burst of energy Dan had thrown at him with the table. Spiderman, crouched upside down from the ceiling, looked in our direction, where Dan and I were invisible under my illusion once more. Apparently he could see through my half-skilled influence though, because he shot two strings of web at the large piece of table Dan had broken and flicked it up in the approaching alien's path towards us. Proxima Midnight, standing tensely in the back corner of the dining room, was watching the scene in front of her obsessively, trying to pinpoint where exactly we really were. I looked to where our doubles stood with their shields raised over the heads from the previous falling table and I willed them into motion again, causing them to rush the perplexed alien woman with glowing weapons materializing in their fists.

"Come on…" Dan said quietly as he hurriedly pulled me to my feet. I continued to focus my attention on the doubles, eagerly watching Proxima Midnight's blinking attention dial in on the illusion I was making her see. The real Dan and I were almost back at the front of the kitchen when the alien woman sliced across the air in front of her, straight through the doubles of me and Dan. As they faded from sight, I felt an instant drain in my energy and slumped dizzyingly against Dan. He faltered as he wasn't prepared for my slippage, and I also felt that my invisibility illusion dissipated as well.

"Sister, they're escaping!" Corvus Glaive exclaimed gruffly, pointing a clawed hand in our direction from where he was once more picking himself up out of the rubble Peter had thrown at him. He leapt swiftly across the room, as Dan and I quickly ducked around the counter, almost reaching the doorway towards the hall.

"Yeah buddy, why don't you let 'em?!" Peter shouted, shooting a web toward the hooded alien behind us. Corvus Glaive dodged out of its path, and Peter's web latched onto the counter a few feet away from its intended target. Spiderman pulled himself across the room and landed perfectly on the countertop, having meant to pull himself onto Corvus Glaive to body slam him to the ground. Spiderman's wide cartoonish white eyes stared blankly at the scowling alien man who had paused briefly to watch the hero's failed attack attempt.

"Peter look out!" Dan shouted as we both watched Proxima Midnight's spear fly through the air towards us. Peter easily dodged the weapon which smashed into the countertop with an ear-splintering crack. But as Spiderman leapt for the wall to avoid the spear, Corvus Glaive caught his leg and swung him in the opposite direction. Spiderman was thrown back against the damaged counter, and the sound of the breath being knocked out of his chest was clearly heard from the few yards away that I stood.

"Dan, let go of me – I'm okay." I said quickly, pulling myself off of my friend's shoulder. Dan summoned up a glowing shield as we continued backing towards the front of the kitchen. I darted my gaze to the fridge behind us and swallowed hard as I turned back to my friend thoughtfully. "I have a plan."

"Okay." Dan said quietly. I winced as I watched Peter swing himself back up to the ceiling only to come down forcefully again a little ways across the room, knocking Proxima Midnight off of her feet.

"You want your spear back?!" Peter yelled, clearly furious at our pursuers. Without even looking over his shoulder, he shot a strand of webbing back towards the counter and yanked the weapon free from where it had been lodged. "Here – _take it back!_"

"No –" Dan started to say. Proxima Midnight's spear flew back towards its owner, pulled by Peter's web and strength. At the last possible millisecond, Peter detached the web from his wrist and flipped into the air as the triple pointed spear collided with Proxima Midnight. She sailed backwards into the double doors at the end of the dining room and for a heartbeat I thought she had been impaled by her own blood-soaked weapon. Unfortunately, that would have been too good to be true.

Corvus Glaive whirled around and narrowed his eyes to study his sister as she hauled herself back up to her feet, revealing that she had expertly caught her spear despite the amount of force it had shot towards her with. The hooded alien man smirked triumphantly and turned back to Peter where he had landed.

"We're not that easy to get rid of." He growled with a devilish smirk. Peter leapt out of the way with a snap of his webbing as Corvus Glaive swiped forward towards the young hero with his clawed hands. Proxima Midnight was across the room in less than a second and she swung her spear for Peter's knees as he landed on the ground once more. The agile superhero flipped in midair and landed hard face-down in the debris on the dining room floor. Corvus Glaive was upon him in a moment, pressing a boot on Peter's forearm to try and hold him down for Proxima Midnight who had her spear poised to stab downwards.

"That plan of yours almost ready?!" Dan asked quickly over his shoulder. I was hurriedly rummaging in one of the drawers embedded in the counter by the fridge, and finally I found a handful of ancient- looking silverware. Saying a quick prayer and summoning a bit of my illusion-conjuring technique, I was suddenly holding an exact replica of the Time Stone necklace. I tossed a quick blast of energy in the direction of Corvus Glaive who was the closest to us to get his attention.

"_Hey! You guys want the Time Stone or what?!_" I shouted. Both of the alien siblings turned their attention back to me and I breathed a sigh of relief as Peter also looked up in our direction, his white eye pieces curiously dialing in on the illusioned silverware I held.

"You think we're fools, boy?" Corvus Glaive growled, hunching his shoulders menacingly as he leaned in my direction.

"I know for a fact that what you're holding _isn't_ the Time Stone." Proxima Midnight said. She slammed her spear down without looking, and I let the silverware fall to the ground, startled from the woman's blunt move. Peter's four robotic arms sprouted instantly from his back, shoving him upward so that he planted a double footed kick at Proxima Midnight's midsection. The sudden movement also threw Corvus Glaive off balance as he lost his footing on Peter's arm.

"Alright fine, you got me!" I exclaimed, watching as Peter pulled himself to his feet, retracting the four metal arms back into his suit. He stood between the two aliens and Proxima Midnight's weapon, which was once more wedged into the ruined tile of the kitchen floor. I yanked hard at the invisible chain around my neck and watched as the Time Stone flashed into sight when I held it up for our attackers to see. Both of their expressions relaxed as they saw the green glow of the now burning Infinity Stone.

"This…_can't_ be the plan you had in mind…" Dan hissed over his shoulder from by my side. I quickly shushed him and took a step forward, gesturing with my other hand and the dangling eye-shaped pendant.

"If I can get you to promise not to hurt us and to leave right away…I'll let you have this." I said, my eyes wide with sincerity. From the corner of my eye, I could see Dan looking back and forth between me and the slowly approaching villains in front of us. I forced myself not to look at my friend as I glanced at Peter who seemed to be reacting with the same disbelief that Dan had.

"We make no such promises…" Proxima Midnight snarled as she suddenly darted straight for me just as I knew she would.

"I didn't think you would." I said, clenching the burning pendant tightly in my right fist while I whirled around to the fridge behind me. Dan instantly jumped back as I flicked my wrist and sent a red whip of light towards the handle on the large kitchen appliance. I yanked the door open and then dove out of the way along with Dan and Peter who had edged his way to our sides.

The first thing I noticed was the lack of an awesome explosion or burst of flame that should have emitted from the fridge. Proxima Midnight had even stopped in her advance as if she had expected something to happen as well. She cocked her head, unamused as the fridge door slowly swung the rest of the way open. Corvus Glaive made to move toward us eyeing his sister's discarded weapon where it still lay lodged in the ground, as if he resented being without his own spear. He scrunched up his pale, ugly face in my direction and his eyes were once more focused on my fist where the Time Stone was reaching its scalding intensity.

As if by a delayed reaction, there was a large rumble from the fridge and my gaze instantly shot back to the open door. Peter, Dan and I had a view from the side, so we couldn't see whatever the two alien attackers saw. Proxima Midnight had a millisecond to leap out of the way but her brother didn't fare as well. Huge tentacles burst forth from the open fridge door, slamming and flailing to find something to grab onto. One instantly coiled itself around the hooded alien and he was pulled rapidly back towards the fridge, shouting as he tried to claw his way out of the huge monster's grip.

_"Oh my God!"_ Peter shouted in my ear, as I struggled to crab-crawl backwards to avoid the huge tentacles' path. Corvus Glaive was nowhere to be seen now, having been absorbed in the chaos erupting out of the large kitchen appliance.

_"What the hell is that?!"_ Dan exclaimed as he grabbed onto my shoulders to pull me back. I shot a blast of golden energy towards a large tentacle as it flailed a little too closely to our little group of huddled teenagers. Unquestioningly, it retreated for the other direction where I could see Proxima Midnight stabbing and swiping at the tentacles that tried to ensnare her.

"I honestly didn't believe Wong when he warned me not to open that door but…this was _not_ at all what I was expecting…" I said in disbelief. I hauled myself back to my feet once we reached the hallway outside the kitchen and I helped block the stray tentacles while Peter and Dan both followed my lead.

Proxima Midnight seemed to sense our retreat because her head whipped in the direction of the doorway where we were making our exit. She suddenly seemed more violent with her spear strikes against the flailing tentacles that still erupted from the fridge. I tauntingly gave her a little wave and shot another blast of energy towards the tentacles, directing them towards their intended target.

"Wong! They're back here!" Dan shouted as we rushed down the hallway where a handful of sorcerers remained, some still trying to reinstate the borders over the Sanctum while others attempted to fight off what few beasts remained. Wong was currently barking orders at one of the red headed men I had met during the practice fight in the tunnels, but he paused to turn worriedly in our direction as we returned to the foyer.

"Casey told you to wait in the training room." Wong said accusingly as soon as we'd reached him. I noticed a large gash coloring the sorcerer's forehead and I winced as I thumbed over my shoulder.

"Yeah, well that didn't really work out because both Proxima Midnight _and_ her brother Corvus Glaive decided to pay us a visit while we were waiting for you." I said sarcastically. I cringed as I delivered the rest of my report to him. "And in the process of trying to hold them off, I _may_ have let all Hell loose like you warned me not to…"

"I'm assuming you had good reason to open the refrigerator?" Wong asked with a small, skeptical smirk. I nodded but before I could relay to him what happened, Peter beat me to it.

"Yeah it was really neat, although a little on the terrifying side of things…but we're pretty sure the elf-looking guy is gone. His sister still had a little ways to go but…again, why do you think it's okay to have this kinda stuff in your _house?!_" Peter exclaimed, shaking his head which was still hidden by his Spiderman mask. He thumbed over his shoulder and I followed the direction he was pointing. My heart skipped a beat as a shadow moved from the end of the hallway.

"Guys…?!" I said, instantly in panic mode once again. The woman-shaped figure began striding speedily towards us. Wong leapt into his battle-ready stance, shields ablaze, and I hurried to copy him as Proxima Midnight's easily recognizable form grew closer.

"Think you can come up with another brilliant plan, Alex?" Dan muttered hopefully beside me. Wong nodded curtly ahead of me on my right.

"If it involves the three of you staying out of her path, then I'd say go for it," The sorcerer snapped. "Otherwise, I'd say your plan had better involve staying out of her path."

"Wong, we're not leaving you…I saw what happened to Casey!" I protested, turning to look at him for a fraction of a second.

Wong's face grew even more somber but his gaze never left the approaching alien woman. Before any of us could say anything else, Wong shot a blast of golden energy towards the doorway where Proxima Midnight was just emerging at the end of the hall. The wooden frame at the top of the doorway seemed to bend in a rainbow shape and the rest of the hallway seemed to sink inwards around her, debris hitting her from all sides. I saw her muscular blue arm flick upwards as she tossed something into the air before being consumed by the makeshift black hole. Something large and slimy and spurting dark-colored blood landed just a yard or two away from our small group and I nearly gagged when I realized what it was.

It was a severed tentacle from the fridge. The thing still thrashed involuntarily, somehow still trying to crawl weakly with the few suckers that Proxima Midnight had allowed this bit of monster to have. I looked for Wong's reaction which was masked with instant displeasure. Then, to my surprise he lurched forward and kicked the squirming tentacle over on the scuffed wooden floor.

Underneath it was the dismembered right arm of Corvus Glaive.


	20. Another Time Halt

**Hello everybody! Once again, I must apologize for being late on my update this past week but I was on a little vacation and couldn't find the time to write any good content. So as we dive into the last month of this year, I think I'll also be trying to wind up this fanfic as well. I'm always looking for advice and suggestions on what you guys would like to see next, but I'm thinking of going back to Ghostbusters next. But working on this story has also been fun working with the Avengers so...ideas anyone? :)**

"We've made it personal now…" Dan said from my left as I literally almost heaved up what little I had eaten since arriving at the Sanctum.

"Cull Obsidian was just defeated upstairs," Grayson reported from behind us. I turned quickly along with Wong to see that the dark haired sorcerer was covered in what looked like black blood, having just conjured a portal from up on the second story by the library. "But there is no sign of Thanos yet."

"We must finish off Proxima Midnight and then maybe he will make his appearance." Wong said simply, turning back to face the sunken hallway across the room from us. I stared at Grayson for a moment longer, taking in the vengeful look in his eyes as he nodded at Wong's comment. He noticed me looking at him and he turned away quickly, making a show of dissolving his portal and cracking his hands in preparation for yet another battle.

"Finish her off? Who could've survived that?" Peter asked, gesturing at the warped wooden doorframe. As soon as he spoke there was a sharp crack that sounded from it.

"She's not human, remember?" I answered him sarcastically.

"Don't know how I could forget…" Peter trailed off, and I noticed that his masked white eyes drifted down towards her brother's arm on the ground at our feet. I tore my own gaze away from the gross chunk of tentacle and body parts, conjuring up my golden dagger-tipped shields in preparation for Proxima Midnight's reemergence. If we had taken down Corvus Glaive so easily, maybe his sister wouldn't be much more difficult.

"Now, Alex I want you to listen to me." Wong said, turning to me with a sincere look on his face. "The real threat is not with her. Thanos is coming."

"Yeah, I know…" I started but he flashed me a look that made me shut up abruptly.

"I'm going to trust that whatever bit of himself that Strange entrusted to you will allow us to see this through. What do you feel we should do?" Wong said. I stared at him in disbelief.

"You're…you're asking _me?_"

Wong's face was instantly cynical once again as he shook his head. Then he stopped and closed his eyes as if he were listening to something. Another crack reverberated from the wall across the room in front of us and I could visibly see the wood splintering as Proxima Midnight tried to break out of her warped prison.

"I got that!" Peter shouted as he leapt forward and shot enormous amounts of synthetic web to hold the wood together.

"Should we run? Should we fight? What do we do, Alex?" Dan asked when Wong stayed in his meditative stance for another few seconds. I looked past him and around at the large mansion's foyer, destroyed from its natural elegance with a gaping hole where the front window had been. I looked for the place where we had left Casey struggling for her last breaths but she was no longer there. Glass, wood and bits of ruined carpets were strewn about and the twisted, disgusting bodies of the alien dog-beasts were piled up among the rest of the debris. There were only about half a dozen sorcerers left with enough energy to help back us up, the rest had either been transported back to one of the other Sanctums for healing or moved to safeguard other damaged parts of the building that might allow entrance to Thanos.

"Alexander?"

I looked up as Wong's use of my full name brought me to my senses. I closed my eyes to the room around me, knowing that Peter had the doorway in front of us literally covered for the moment.

I attempted one last time to push my mind outward in search of an answer for Wong. Some insight that sounded like nothing I myself would come up with at random. I felt my hand slowly wrap protectively around the Time Stone where I had replaced it around my neck and its heat somehow sapped the panic rising within me.

"We don't have time for this…" I heard Grayson's voice mutter from where he stood beside Wong.

Keeping my eyes closed, I took my hand off of the golden pendant and moved my hands into position to unlock the Eye. As I opened my eyes slowly, I found the glowing green band floating softly around my right wrist like it had before. I glanced to my right and could see that Grayson was eyeing my skeptically while beside him Wong had a hand up telling the younger sorcerer to wait. On my left stood Dan with a hopeful half smile on his face and Peter with his back to us a few feet away, watching the web-covered door across the room. The room was silent with everyone and everything frozen in the time halt I had produced.

"Alright, Midnight. Since we don't have time to really deal with you until your dad comes, let's go ahead and take care of you while I'm waiting." I said under my breath, my voice the only sound in the silent space. I moved my wrist towards the left as I faced the door and the webbing shot back across the room towards Peter, exposing the warped and cracked doorway. Rotating my wrist even further to the left, the doorway rose back into its normal position and Proxima Midnight was left standing frozen in midstride on her way down the hallway again. Her left shoulder sloped downward from where she was dragging the chunk of tentacle and Corvus Glaive's severed arm. Her triple pointed staff was in her other hand, trailing along on the already ruined floor. Her gleaming eyes were frozen over my shoulder to where the others stood waiting and she didn't see me heading straight for her.

_"__What's going on now? Why is it so quiet all of a sudden?" _

_"__Don't knock it…there's no telling what they're up to out there…" _

I stopped about a yard away from the statuesque Proxima Midnight as the hushed ghostly voices broke through the frozen Sanctum. I looked around and listened intently as I moved and loosened the warrior woman's fist from around her beloved weapon.

"Can you ghost people hear me?" I called when the hushed voices grew undistinguishable. There was a beat of silence as whatever spirits that resided in the Sanctum seemed to consider whether to answer me or not. When I had retrieved Proxima Midnight's triple-bladed spear from her, I turned around with it and slowly started to take it back to the small group huddled around Wong.

_"__We hear you, apprentice." _

_"__Don't speak to him! If we ignore them, maybe they'll leave us alone…"_

I paused on my way back across the room and turned again in the direction I had heard the response come from. I smirked in relief as I quickly thought through a plan and turned back to continue my way towards Wong, Dan and Peter.

"So…I have a favor to ask of you guys..." I said slowly to the voices once I'd reached my destination with the heavy spear. I noticed Peter's outstretched hands, frozen in the position he'd been shooting webs at the doorway. I hurriedly shoved the spear into his grasp, curling his gloved fingers around its staff so that when I restarted time again, he wouldn't drop it.

_"__Of us?" _

I jogged back across the room towards where Proxima Midnight still stood, her face drawn down in a permanent sneer. I stopped in front of her once more, trying to consider what exactly I would do.

"Yeah…um…I'm just curious…and since you're apparently not affected by this Time Stone thingy here…would you be interested in trying to help me out? Provided you even can, that is?" I asked the voices awkwardly. When they took a long moment to respond, I felt even stupider for asking.

_ "__Perhaps. What did you have in mind?" _

"I'm not quite sure yet. I'm more of a last-second planner in case you haven't noticed." I said light-heartedly. "But I just want to know if you can see what's going on around here and if you'd be willing to help if need be."

The green band still hung suspended and glowing around my wrist and I forced it to stay frozen as I swirled a golden portal into view in the right wall of the hallway. I directed it to open up on the second floor of the building and I found that the hall upstairs was in even worse shape than I'd expected it would be.

_"__We may provide assistance if needed." _

_ "__And to answer your question, we can indeed sense everything that occurs in this Sanctum." _

"Cool." I said absently as I stepped even closer to the frozen Proxima Midnight and moved the portal over us so that we were suddenly transported to the upper level of the mansion. Huge gaping holes riddled the hallway around me and several of the doors lining the hall had even been blown off their hinges. Scorch marks and deep gouges lined the walls and floor, where some hulking person had fought Grayson and the other sorcerers with an unfairly larger weapon in an earlier battle.

_"__We must warn you, apprentice, that what you're trying to do may prove difficult on your own." _

"Yeah? And what is it that I'm trying to do?" I asked as I hesitantly reached out and touched Proxima Midnight's upper arm. Afraid that there would be some reaction from the alien woman, I jerked my hand away but she didn't move. "Cuz I'd really like to know."

_"__You're attempting to use the magic of this Sanctum against the enemy."_

_ "__And that doesn't always come without a price."_

I touched the alien woman's arm once more and lifted it up to see if I could move her at all. When her right arm lifted easily, I bit my lip and looked toward the end of the hallway hopefully.

"I'm sure there's a price…but we don't really have much of a choice here…" I said quietly to the voices which sounded slightly closer. "Things seem to be going alright so far…"

_"…__So far."_

I crossed the hallway and stopped as I passed a room where the door had been smashed in, likely from someone or something being thrown into it. I peered inside the dimly-lit room, still conscious of the green band glowing around my wrist. The antique furniture that had previously decorated the room had all but been destroyed, each chair or table or mirror scattered haphazardly on the floor in disrepair. The velvety curtains that had lined the windows of the room were shredded and the glass shattered, causing the breeze from outside the building to pull the ruined drapes out the window and back in as if the house was struggling to breathe. Part of me wanted to use the Time Stone to repair the damage done to the beautiful Sanctum, but I realized that there literally would be no point for it.

I turned to make my way out of the room, and spotted the tilted picture where it miraculously still hung on the wall of the hallway despite the destruction all around it. I gave the statue of Proxima Midnight a cautious glance before I turned my back on her to straighten the frame like Peter had done just an hour or so before. The loud click sounded and I turned towards the opposite end of the hall where the secret passage opened slowly. I breathed a quick sigh of relief, as having the time halt in place didn't seem to affect the passageway's ability to appear.

The oddly familiar sound of cannon fire sounded from somewhere behind me and I jumped as a whoosh of cool air flew past me and slammed through a closed door further down the hall. I stood frozen in place for a moment, looking hurriedly to the unmoving form of Proxima Midnight still standing intimidatingly a few feet away from me. I stared back at the door ahead of me, narrowing my gaze at it suspiciously.

"Was that…you, spirits?" I asked hopefully. I swirled another portal over Proxima Midnight and myself, teleporting us further down the hall and closer to the revealed secret passage.

_"__You know you're not skilled enough to make your own way out of there, apprentice." _

I hesitated as the voices struck a chord in my head. I hadn't thought through my hastily put together plan this far and I glanced back down in the other direction of the hallway towards the staircase as I began to rethink. Proxima Midnight's beady eyes gleamed darkly straight ahead and I bit my lip indecisively as I threw my gaze down at the glowing green band hovering patiently on my wrist.

"Doctor Strange entrusted me…" I began, my voice breaking off as I sensed the spirits listening intently on the other side of the door to my left. I looped my right elbow with Proxima Midnight's left one, blanching at how easily her frozen limb contorted to my arm. I hesitated just outside of the waiting secret doorway, closing my eyes to try and summon some spell unknown to me that would aid me to see at least a little bit in the darkness of the passageway. "…I can do this."

_"__It's unwise to go alone, boy." _

_ "__Best let your friends know where you've gone..."_

"I know…but this will only take a minute."

I took a deep breath and, without opening my eyes, I stepped through the doorway dragging the unmoving Proxima Midnight with me.

Two things happened at once.

The first was the small click and the retreat of the powerful burn of the Time Stone where it rested on my chest.

The second was the swift jerk of Proxima Midnight's arm away from mine and a furious kick aimed straight into my stomach.

I leapt back up to my feet, noticing that my hopeful pleading of a miraculous bestowing of night vision had indeed not happened. I could hear Proxima Midnight's confused and frantic breaths a few feet ahead of me in the darkness and I struggled to silently back away from her into the wall behind me.

"What have you done to me, human?!"

I heard her swipe forward with her powerful arms and the rush of displaced air right in front of me signaled how close to me she was. I edged further along the wall to my right, still focusing on stilling my terrified breathing and heart rate.

"You've – _you've blinded me!_"

I bit my lip as I carefully continued along the wall, stiffening when I reached a curve in the darkness. I heard Proxima Midnight shuffling uneasily on her feet a ways in front of me, and as I followed the wall I made a point to keep her in front of me. I glanced down to where my chest would be in the pitch blackness and I shook my head at my own stupidity. Of course the time halt would have ceased once we'd entered the secret passageway – Peter himself had been able to figure out it was warded against magic. I looked back up as Proxima Midnight's movements started to sound slightly closer.

"I don't know how you were able to do this, child, but you won't be able to perturb me that easily."

My foot caught slightly on the floor and I stumbled, trying to muffle the quiet sound I had made. Proxima Midnight made a thoughtful murmur and I heard her swiftly and quietly make her way towards me.

"Your sorcery doesn't work here, does it? I could sense the Time Stone's use and upon entering here, it was taken away. Is that why you're avoiding me, Alexander?" Her voice was taunting and edgy as she tried to provoke me into giving away my presence. I stood frozen against the wall, afraid to move, knowing that her lifetime of battle instincts would greatly outnumber my few evasive movements Wong had attempted to teach me and Dan amongst our training.

"You're right." I finally said simply from my place against the wall. I heard her dart forward and quickly sidestepped so she would hit the wall in her attack. I rushed forward carefully, keeping one hand tracing along the wall in my retreat in the darkness. I stopped after hearing her frustrated grunt as she ricocheted off the solid wall where I had previously stood. "But I've got other tricks up my sleeve…and they don't involve my amateur magic."

I heard an angered growl of acknowledgement before I felt Proxima Midnight's strong hand slam painfully into my injured shoulder from where she had silently made her way to me unexpectedly. I tried to back away like I'd planned, but her abrupt apprehension of the front of my shirt took me by surprise.

"Idiot." She breathed in my face. I cringed as I felt her drag me closer towards her. Even in the total darkness I could almost clearly picture her cold, dark eyes. I felt her other hand prod towards my chest, but in the darkness, she ended up hitting me in the gut for the second time in five minutes. Before she could think to reach higher up to my chest for the Time Stone, I hastily latched my left hand around the pendant and as silently as I could, lifted it from around my neck. Proxima Midnight felt my unexpected movement and she quickly latched her other hand on my left shoulder to still me, giving me a warning shake.

"You're scared too." I realized quietly. Her fingers tightened and my already injured shoulder burned with white hot pain as my stab wound clearly reopened under her pressure.

"I've seen far worse things than what you killed my brother with just now." She said lowly. "Do not think that you can intimidate me. Now give me the Stone, I've had enough of your stalling…"

"I don't have it, I told you." I lied calmly, my fingers curling around the dangling pendant in my palm by my side. I chanced leaning to the side slowly, feeling around hopefully with the heels of my slippered feet.

_"__You lie! You think I'm stupid?!"_ She screamed in my face once more and shoving me roughly in her fury in the direction I was leaning towards. I continued feeling around and edging along the wall as far as her hold would allow.

"…Do you really want me to answer that?" I asked, enticing her to strike me once more. This time she hit me squarely in my jaw, like she'd been able to see perfectly well in the dark. I grimaced as I stumbled backward a few more steps, and the hand she had released to deliver the blow to my face suddenly clamped firmly around my neck.

"You either give me the Stone now or I kill you." Proxima Midnight hissed, her grip tightening intensely to emphasize how very real her threat was. My windpipe was already crushed beneath her ridiculously strong grip and my eyes were watering as I raised the hand that didn't hold the Time Stone to grip her wrist where she held me.

"I know…" I choked out, my hand pawing at her arm to release me even though I knew that she wouldn't. I fumbled to keep my hold on the pendant still in my other palm, knowing that if I did drop it, we would never be able to find it in the pitch blackness of the secret passageway.

"I won't wait." She growled again warningly, her fingertips digging even further into the tendons of my neck. I winced as I felt like my head was going to split from the lack of air and tension she was causing to build up in my brain. I worked to move my mouth again to reply but my voice wouldn't come to me. The fingers of the hand by my side were rapidly losing function and I struggled to make them move like I wanted. I hurried to shove the pendant into the small pocket in my robes, not caring if the chain hung out. I was only worried about getting the Eye in the folds of the robes deep enough that it wouldn't fall out.

"Okay…" I squeaked as I raised my now-free hand to join the other one around Proxima Midnight's wrist. Upon feeling that both of my hands were empty and that she wasn't going to get the Stone that she knew I had, she twisted her wrist and I suddenly found that I was being slammed backwards several feet and onto the ground. My heart jerked painfully as the alien woman's grip shifted only slightly from around my neck, allowing me to take the shortest of breaths before she shoved her hand against my chest and held me heavily against the ground.

My head was ringing and fuzzy from colliding with the solid floor beneath me. My eyes were squeezed shut against the blackness in front of me, and I forced myself to go limp under Proxima Midnight's hold. I felt her boot slam roughly down on my left thigh and I cried out in pain as she removed her hand from around my throat and took her foot off of my leg only to kick me across the floor and into a wall opposite where we'd just been.

"T-That…was dumb…" I muttered as I struggled to inhale through the pounding of my head now that my airways were once more clear. I reached out to my side to brace against the floor so I could pull myself up to my feet and my heart skipped a beat as my hand fell through an eerily familiar space of nothingness. Proxima Midnight's boots scraped heavily and intimidatingly as she walked towards me in the darkness, knowing where I was from my choking coughs and scrambling to position myself in front of the makeshift doorway behind me.

"Oh?" Her voice rasped from just in front of me. I nodded at her through the stifling blackness in preparation as I lay crumpled on the ground in front of the doorway, hearing the long haired alien woman stop right at my feet. I held my hand over the pocket where the Time Stone still rested and kicked my foot into her left ankle to cause her to stumble off balance suddenly.

"Yeah. Because now you're going to be falling for a long time…" I muttered darkly. Proxima Midnight let out a final growl and lunged forward, her hands missing their target of my neck and instead grabbing onto the front of my robes. Before she could get a good grip of me, I aimed a double footed kick straight up into her torso and grabbed her long arms in return. I did a backwards somersault on the floor, holding on to the alien woman as tightly as I could as I flipped us both over and down into the inescapable elevator shaft behind me


	21. Endlessly Falling

**Happy Friday the 13th everybody! I know this is kind of a short chapter but I'm hoping to make up for it in the next one. Filler chapter, I guess you'd call this one. ^-^**

Proxima Midnight's grip on the front of my shirt instantly released and her voice was a reverberated scream from a little ways beneath me. My hands flailed forward to grab onto something as my backwards somersault reached its full rotation but I already knew that grabbing onto the ledge of the doorway like I had planned to was out of the question. I muttered a curse under my breath and pushed myself forward anyway, feeling the odd floating sensation as it levitated me slowly downward. My hands grasped for anything in the darkness around me, but I figured that the entrance to the inescapable prison below would have no such crevices or ledges for a potential criminal to use to aid their escape.

I suddenly remembered the Time Stone where it was wedged into the makeshift pocket of my robes and I clapped my hand over my side as I felt for it. I was relieved when I found that through the haphazard flip I had pulled Proxima Midnight in with, the Time Stone was exactly where I'd left it. I closed my eyes against the pitch blackness and the falling sensation and attempted to pull the necklace from my pocket for a last effort's use. My eyebrows knit together in confusion however as I found that, though the chain dangled lazily outside of the folds of my robes, the Eye-shaped pendant refused to leave the safety of my pocket. I could distantly feel the burn of its waiting power, but in the magic-protected elevator shaft, I couldn't even attempt to use it.

"Human's shouldn't possess these abilities…" Proxima Midnight's voice echoed, her presence drifting further and further away from me as she seemed to be falling faster than I was. Then she seemed to turn her face upwards to shout up to me where she knew I was floating above her. "This is why my father is going to rectify your universe!"

I blinked against the sudden mental slap to my face at the villainous woman's words. He was coming for the Stone…but if both me and Proxima Midnight _and_ the Stone were lost to a place where it couldn't be found…

"We'll see how his plan goes without this Stone…" I shouted down to her.

There was no immediate response from her and as I tried to steel myself for whatever magical prison lay at the end of our fall, I felt the weightless floating sensation make me suddenly sick to my stomach. I pressed a slow-moving hand to my forehead and could feel my tremoring fingers as my nerves began to register the thought of my coming death or imprisonment. Also…an eternity spent with Proxima Midnight wouldn't seem so bad as what I'd heard would happen if Thanos acquired all of the Stones.

_"Thanos will win." _I heard Proxima Midnight's growl from below me in the forever falling elevator shaft.

I clenched my hands into fists floating by my sides as I tried to come up with a retort and cringed as my knuckles brushed against the wall with a static shock that shot through my body. I pulled myself back from the wall where I had grazed my knuckles and froze as the current of magically placed electricity shot through my body. For a few mere seconds I was floating away from the wall I had accidentally touched and then my left foot tapped against the opposite wall with the exact same effect. I screamed in fearful pain and felt myself flip in midair as my falling began to feel even faster.

"I'm falling…and I don't really expect any help here…_but why can't it be easier?!_" I muttered under my breath as I pulled all four of my limbs in closer to my nerve-wracked body. I closed my eyes against the overwhelming darkness and allowed the uneasy sensation of floating to carry me further and further downward, careful to stay in the center of the space so I wouldn't hit the surrounding walls.

After several long minutes of falling in maddening slow motion, I began to feel a cool presence start to overtake me. It started deep in my shoulders and back and slowly moved outward from there, finally reaching my fingertips and toes through my weird slipper shoes. My eyes flew open but the pitch darkness was still there, with seemingly no change aside from the frigid cold that now surrounded me. I hesitantly flexed my fingers and chanced at stretching my arms and legs from where I had wrapped them around myself protectively. The cold feeling suddenly seemed to grow tighter with my slight movements and I froze obediently as my own limbs were forced back to their original positions.

_"Try not to move, apprentice. It's a struggle for us right now as it is." _

My eyes widened in the darkness and I nodded in disbelieving understanding while I trying to remain as still in my motions as possible. The spirit people that had previously seemed to recluse themselves from the others residing in the mansion were actually attempting to help me like they had unwillingly promised. I suddenly frowned against the knowledge of my possible return to safety and began to try and move out of the spirits' hold.

"W-Why are you trying to help me? This – This is the right thing to do…the Stone will be protected for good if you let me fall…" I protested. The cold intensified and I shivered as the chattering of my teeth forced my protests to cease.

_"You asked us for help and now you're refusing it." _

_"How typical of the living." _

"No…I'm appreciative, really…but it's just that…I had already kinda decided that I was gonna do this…" I finally muttered unsurely. The spirits' cold presence suddenly jerked me upward with a sound of deafening cannon fire and threw me roughly against one of the walls. I shouted out a pain induced curse from the electric shock that jolted through my body in addition to the frigidness from the spirits' presence. The feeling of moving upward slowed a bit and when my tremors finally died down a bit, I was greeted by the spirits' sour voices.

_"You were alright with taking the Stone to the magical prisons along with one of the children of Thanos?" _

_"Your thought process baffles us." _

_"We'll overlook your feelings only a little because we were once young and alive too, but…your decision-making process may need a little bit of tweaking." _

I fell into humiliated silence for a few moments as the spirits carried me upwards and back to the secret passageway where I had lured Proxima Midnight. I absently stared downward through the darkness where I knew the alien woman still remained in an almost endless descent, feeling a fearful chill run through me that wasn't entirely caused by the spirits' presence.

"…Thank you." I murmured to the coldness around me after another few moments of rising in silence. The frigid presence of the Sanctum's spirits seemed to pulse a little tighter around me as if the spirits were consoling me of the stresses that were overtaking me.

_"You're a brave one for sure…just a bit touched in the head." _

I smiled at the spirits' lighthearted teasing. I was about to come up with some joking retort but then my body was flipped in midair once more and my skydiving position altered when my feet were thrust back underneath me. I pushed my hands out in front of me and the cold presence suddenly hurled me forward onto the floor at the top of the elevator shaft.

"Woah – easy!" I protested in surprise. The frigid sensation had disappeared and I looked in every surrounding direction in the darkness for a sign of where the spirits had gone. "Hello?"

_"Quiet now, apprentice." _

_"What you've feared has now arrived." _

"T-Thanos?" I asked, my voice cutting off as I climbed back to my feet, dizzy from my gravity-defying experience. The spirits were instantly gone, their movement signaled by their familiar cannon fire that echoed in the dark passageway.

"Alexander…how many times do I need to rescue you from the secrets of this Sanctum?" Wong's voice called quietly from directly in front of me. My shoulders sank as I walked quickly and quietly towards his voice.

"Sorry Wong…I was trying to help." I tried to explain. I felt his hand clap firmly down on my uninjured shoulder and he lightly pulled me forward towards where his conjured portal was waiting.

"I know you were. And it was actually not a bad idea you had to pause Time to rid us of Proxima Midnight." Wong said. I paused before we reached the portal.

"Oh?" I prodded him, catching on to the unsaid tension in the air before he could even give me the horrible news.

"Yes," Wong answered calmly. "Because as soon as Time restarted again upon your entry of the secret passage, Thanos made his appearance."

I stared through the darkness to where I knew Wong stood by my side as he confirmed what the spirits had told me. I placed my hand over the pocket in my robes where the chain of the Time Stone necklace dangled by my side. I squinted in confusion and then shifted my blind gaze to the ground near my feet.

"And…what's happened? Why aren't you out there trying to protect the Sanctum?!" I nearly exploded, my nerves switching into the overreacting stage. "You could have sent Daniel or Grayson or even Peter to come and get me out of here, why waste your master-sorcerer skill on coming to get me?"

Wong was silent for a long moment and I could almost visibly see the unrest on his face through the blackness of the passageway. I felt his hand fall from my shoulder and heard the swish of his robes as he turned away from me.

"Thanos is holding everyone else until I return with you and the Stone. He's already slaughtered many of the remaining sorcerers and apprentices from the other Sanctums…"

"But Dan and Peter…?!"

"They're fine for now, Alex." Wong's voice murmured quietly. I felt my heart wrench in my chest as I thought about the last few dozen remaining sorcerers that had stood ready to face Proxima Midnight with us down in the foyer just a mere fifteen or twenty minutes ago. Our numbers had greatly been reduced then and now…

"I tried to tell the spirits to let the Stone fall to the end of that tunnel with me…" I started, my voice welling up with fright and then finally levelling off. "Maybe this isn't what Doctor Strange wanted."

"What do you mean?" Wong asked gently and patiently as if we had all the time left in the world to discuss this.

"One of the last things he told me…was that everything that happens is what's meant to happen. You guys really need to speak more plainly so you get your points across better." I said anxiously.

"I'll try to keep that in mind." Wong said lightly. I suddenly felt him lean closer towards me and his palm rested briefly over my eyes and forehead. When his hand fell away, I blinked and could see the sorcerer standing just a few feet away from me as if I were looking at him in broad daylight.

"Woah…uh…thanks." I said, looking around at the newly revealed secret passageway. It was almost an exact mirror of the hallway outside, just with a giant hole blown through the wall behind me. The elevator shaft of doom where Proxima Midnight would spend the rest of her alien life was still shrouded in darkness, and not even my own curiosity would let me move closer to inspect the seemingly endless drop. I noticed Wong's expectant yet pitying expression as I finished my quick glance around the secret passageway and I reached for the necklace that still rested lightly in my pocket.

"What's your plan this time, Alexander?" Wong asked with a halfhearted smirk. "You're becoming quite good with improvising…another trait that Strange possessed."

"Well…Strange told me that whatever we decide to do…things are going to turn out how they're going to turn out. Win or lose we just fight, right? Does that sound good with you?" I asked, extending my hands hopefully as I finished my heroic speech. Wong offered me a humored eyebrow raise and clapped his right hand into mine in an accepted hand shake.

"Sounds like a plan to me."


	22. Thanos

**Merry Christmas everyone! I hope this chapter makes up for the crappy updates I've been doing lately, and I really look forward to what input ya'll have for me after reading this! I've been working on it as much as I've been able to the past week and I've spent two hours here tonight editing it before posting and going to bed this Christmas Eve. So please enjoy and have a great holiday! :)**

Wong and I emerged out into the upper hallway of the Sanctum and immediately I could feel the unsettling silence that hung throughout the entire building. We walked purposefully down the hall and towards the staircase that would lead us down to where I assumed Thanos waited. There were no bodies scattered among the wreckage of the downstairs foyer like I'd expected, but I did see traces of newer scuffles since I'd last been down on the lower level of the mansion. Wong had told me not to show any visible signs of aggression such as conjuring up my shields or magical weapons so that we wouldn't be obliterated as soon as we confronted Thanos head on, but I still kept my mental guard up as we descended the stairs.

"…Where are they?" I asked under my breath as Wong and I stepped down onto the first floor of the Sanctum. I looked around distrustfully at the seemingly empty room, my heart hammering in anticipation. Wong too looked around at the wreckage sadly.

"The fight was carried to the training room." He said quietly, pointing towards the hallway where I had reversed Time to retrieve Proxima Midnight and take her up to the secret passageway. As the two of us made our way slowly towards the repaired doorway, I kept a mental eye in each direction, scanning for any sign of movement or noise.

"The training room was kinda destroyed…" I commented, remembering the explosion I had caused when I'd thrown Corvus Glaive's weapon up through the ceiling. The damage that Corvus Glaive had done while trying to escape from Dan's snake staff was also a factor in my memory as I stepped over the shattered and broken cases that had once housed powerful, magical artifacts and weapons. I longed to reach into the closest one and grab something to protect us, but I followed Wong's advice and continued walking in obedient silence.

"Daniel and Peter then had everyone lead Thanos to the kitchen in the hopes that the beast from the refrigerator would have the same result as it did with Corvus Glaive…" Wong said ironically. I looked at his hard expression as we continued briskly down the hall, reading that my friends' ideas had clearly not gone according to their plan.

As we came upon the doorway that led into the ruined kitchen, my heart leapt into my throat at the chaos that had presumably ensued there. Through the dimly lit kitchen, I could see that the refrigerator door was still open, but the tentacles that had lastly been flailing and reaching for Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive were no longer moving. The giant, ugly octopus-like tentacles were frozen against the ground, glowing with a pulsing purple hue. They twitched as if in pain as the glow flickered, lighting up the darkening room.

"Ah, I see you've finally decided to join us."

My gaze was torn away from the quieted tentacles on the ground as I looked for the source of the gravelly, yet calm speaker. On the other side of the room where the large dining room table had once stood was a small cluster of people, Dan and Peter among them. A huge figure stepped in front of them, blocking them from my eyesight. Five glowing Stones lit up his battle-scarred face, revealing only a small wound in the side of his cheek that was covered in dried purple blood.

"…Thanos." I whispered in realization, stepping into the room with Wong right beside me. The giant hulking man smiled even wider and bowed his head in a sickeningly sarcastic greeting.

"Alexander Richards. The one who Strange tried to prevent me from finding." Thanos said, lowering his glowing fist as he saw that we entered the room unarmed. "I must admit, in the small bit of time you were able to be trained, you seem to have learned quite a lot."

"Enough to defeat your children." I said sourly, glancing down at the unmoving tentacles as Wong and I walked slowly past them in our approach to Thanos. I tried to focus on keeping my voice as tauntingly calm as his and when I lifted my gaze back to him, the large purple man's eyes gleamed with dark amusement.

"Apparently." He murmured absently. The loss of the vicious 'children' he had instilled to do his bidding seemed to hardly affect him and that caused me to worry even more as he seemed to have no heart or clear conscience whatsoever. He looked to Wong who was standing stoically by my side, obviously on my defensive.

"That's…quite the rock collection you've got going there." I said, nodding at the glowing powerful Infinity Stones embedded in the gauntlet on Thanos' left hand. He didn't bat an eye as his smirk tilted up slightly further with his cold amusement.

"And you have the last one I've been looking for." His low voice said, getting right to the point. My hopeful mask nearly fell and I had to consciously hold myself from reaching for the pocket at my side where I could feel the steady burn of the Time Stone.

"Yeah." I said quietly, looking the large purple man up and down slowly as if trying to size him up. Clearly this wasn't going to be an easy evasion. I glanced past him to where Dan and Peter and a few other sorcerers were standing fearfully against the back wall of the kitchen near the double doors. Thanos seemed to notice my thoughtful processing of the situation because he also cast a curious glance back at my friends and newfound colleagues.

"Let's make a deal here, Alex. You give me the Stone…"

"No." I said nonchalantly under my breath. The man whipped his bald head back in my direction and titled it to the side in surprise as he finished his proposition.

"…Or one by one I'll kill your friends all right here in front of you."

"That won't happen." I said seriously, clenching and unclenching my hands into fists restlessly by my sides. Thanos's dark eyes narrowed down at me as he caught my gaze drifting back and forth between the huge villain and the small group of people behind him.

"Oh?"

"Because if you kill them, I won't give you the Stone." I said stupidly, still managing to hold my steady way of speaking to the murderous Titan. He closed his eyes and chuckled to himself lightly. When he opened them again, I had moved my gaze to Dan who was staring at me solemnly by the double doors. My friend nodded at the closed doors, and I took that to indicate that Thanos had some power over them that prevented the trapped sorcerers from attempting to escape that way. I snapped my attention back to the huge towering man in front of me as he turned back in my direction.

"You don't have the room to negotiate, boy." Thanos growled, taking a step closer to me. Wong stiffened by my side and I forced myself to stand my ground. I blinked and took a deep breath as I prepared for what would happen next.

"Actually…I think I might." I said uncertainly. When the madman's gaze didn't move or signal any sign of question, I awkwardly continued. "You see…the Stone that Doctor Strange gave to me…was a decoy."

"Really?" Thanos' voice spoke after a few seconds. His expression still didn't change and his voice had no trace of a question in it at all. He obviously didn't believe me and over his shoulder I could see Dan looking puzzled and thoughtful as I shrugged up at Thanos nonchalantly.

"Yeah. This whole time he had me thinking that it was the _real deal._ Scared the hell out of me the past few days and when I finally started to come to terms with the idea that I was supposed to be devoting the rest of my life to protecting this Time Stone thing if something happened to Strange, I figured out that it was all a hoax," I explained. I could feel Wong's tension easing beside me as Thanos seemed to stiffen slightly ahead of us.

"What do you think made Strange choose you out of literally anyone else on this pitiful planet to have this decoy then?" Thanos asked, tilting his head to the other side as he clearly processed my words. I looked over to Dan and Peter who shrugged and then I even glanced over at Wong who was frowning at me deeply with that expression he had held the very first day we'd met and he had resented the very idea that Thanos was describing.

"We've asked the same question, man. Even suggested the idea that there should be _several_ decoys scattered around the Earth in the off chance that it would prove to be even harder for you to find the Stone." Dan said softly from behind the huge hulking man. Thanos didn't move as he continued to stare me down as if he could see through me.

"Because I wouldn't believe any of them." Thanos said lowly, more to himself than to anyone else. I smiled uncomfortably and gestured a hand out to him, nodding in agreement.

"_Exactly._ And then you wouldn't have destroyed the real one." I said simply, adding a lighthearted laugh at the end.

"Which is what you did." Peter added. Thanos frowned angrily and my laugh transitioned into a soft chuckle as I cleared my throat.

"So you're telling me that I, myself, destroyed the real Time Stone." Thanos stated quietly, his dark eyes no longer all-knowing and glimmering with a shadow of doubt. Wong and I didn't move and with my gaze focused solely on the Titan in front of me, I could vaguely see Dan and Peter's uncertain gaze from the corner of my eye.

"I'm saying, I don't know. When I found out that this Stone that he gave me was, you know, a _fake_…I just assumed that Strange had _wanted_ me to think that I had the real one. Because, as we've been learning…belief is power." I explained slowly. Thanos regarded me carefully for a moment before he shifted his large booted feet to gain the higher ground again.

"If I destroyed the Time Stone on my home planet…" Thanos began, flicking his gaze to the ruined dining room floor at his feet. "I'm fairly certain that I would've known."

I kept my hesitant gaze trained on the big purple villain as he shuffled closer to me. I was afraid that if I moved to step back or show my genuine fear of the man, my illusion would fall. So I stood and waited for him to continue his slow, intimidating speech.

"You see…" Thanos raised his golden left fist up, his eyes glittering with the colorful glows from the Stones in his Gauntlet. "With the power wielded between these five Stones…I can see through your lies. I know that the real Time Stone is here because this power – far stronger than your belief, mind you – allows me to sense its presence."

With a flick of my wrist, the double of me standing next to Wong ran head-on towards Thanos while the real me appeared by Dan's side. I fumbled with the doorknob as Thanos growled out an enraged battle cry and suddenly the door in front of me lit up with an eerie purple glow. A rumble quickly followed and I whirled around once I'd realized that the doorknobs were useless to see that the large tentacles from the fridge were now once more in motion – this time directed by the Mad Titan himself.

Wong was nowhere to be seen, having presumably dodged the reanimated tentacles that flailed nearly all the way across the kitchen and dining room. The handful of sorcerers around us put up their shields to block the untamed fridge monster and I looked up hurriedly to see that, indeed, Wong was running along the high ceiling of the kitchen in our direction. The double of me somehow rolled and dodged beneath Thanos's swings and punches, but the large villain seemed to be diverting the attacking tentacles away from himself and the illusion of me that fought him.

"Can one of you make a portal out of here?" I asked one of the sorcerers impatiently, finally giving up on escaping through the dining room's double doors. A red haired man shook his head breathlessly and I noticed a huge burn in the front of his robes from an injury he had sustained during the earlier battle against Thanos.

"He's somehow controlling the area and preventing us from leaving. The plan was to use us as leverage until he got to you and the Stone." The man hurriedly explained, through several winces of pain.

I gritted my teeth and threw a frustrated glance over my shoulder to where my double had conjured up a glowing machete like I had seen Wong use against me earlier. I sent out of wave of energy that would seem like it had come from the double as he struck foward at the Mad Titan. Thanos easily sidestepped the double's attack, clearly not fooled by my illusion. The huge man whirled around, unwavering and his maddened gaze fell directly on the real me by the doors, even though I was surrounded by the remaining sorcerers.

"You forget…I've already put up with Strange's magic tricks and defeated him, what makes you think your attempts will prove any different?"

"It probably won't, that's what's so tricky." I muttered, loud enough so he could hear my frustrated remark. He sneered at me through the wall of sorcerers and as he moved to approach us, a flash of golden mandala shields held him back.

"You shouldn't have come back…we've got this Alex, just get the Stone out of here!" Dan hissed, pressing his back towards me as he held his own giant golden shield among the other few sorcerers blocking Thanos' path.

"Wong told me that Thanos was guarding you guys. I wasn't going to _not_ come back for you…" I muttered, rolling my eyes nonchalantly while trying to hide the fact that I had been genuinely worried sick over my best friend and newfound underclassman/superhero friend. "Think you can really hold them off while I try to bust through this door?"

"No, it doesn't look like we can –" Peter protested, his voice strained as he held onto two strings of webbing that he had shot into the ceiling. He braced his feet against the interior of one of the larger mandala shields nearest to Thanos and his body seemed to tremble under the strain as the glowing power from the large villain's Gauntlet pressed against the other sides of the combined wall of shields. As soon as Peter uttered the words, Thanos directed one of the huge tentacles groping from the fridge to slam into the very shield that Peter was helping to hold. The golden glow flickered dangerously and Peter had just enough time to fall to the floor before the shield disappeared for good. The unfortunate sorcerer that had struggled to keep the shield substantial was left dazed for a millisecond too long and he was instantly seized by the tentacle under Thanos' control.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Dan shouted over the poor man's frightened screams. Being the closest one to the entrapped man, Dan dove forward letting his shield down to try and reach for the man slowly being dragged back towards the fridge past Thanos.

_"Dan!"_ I exclaimed, throwing myself after him as he ran right into the path of yet another tentacle that had snaked its way by the other side of Thanos. Peter was on his feet once more and he shot a web straight for Dan's back to yank him back towards us. Missing its mark of completely crushing my best friend, the huge tentacle still slammed downward with a crunching thud on my friend's lower body when Peter's super strength couldn't move Dan out of the way fast enough.

There were no words to express the agony Dan felt as it seemed that nearly every bone in both of his legs were shattered with the weight of the huge, destructive monster from the fridge. I darted forward past Thanos, seeing that my double was still standing stupidly and forgotten just a few paces away from the large villain. I shot a wave of golden energy at the tentacle still latched onto Dan's legs, hearing his pain-induced screams reach ear-splitting volumes before I finally managed to make the fridge monster retreat.

"Victor!" Wong's voice ordered and our teacher then suddenly appeared by the side of the man who was almost completely absorbed in the tentacles closest to the fridge. Thanos turned curiously away from me where I stood between him and Dan while Peter hurried to try and protect Dan from the other side nearest the fridge.

_"Wong, the kids!"_

The entrapped man had almost reached the destination that the tentacles had intended for him and I looked up to see that Wong held the man's bloodied hand in a last moment's reassurance. I felt my chest tighten as I could see the physical torment on Wong's usually serene face when he gave a final squeeze to the other sorcerer's hand and let him go. Wong turned immediately in my direction, his furious eyes landing first on Dan, Peter and I where we stood closest to Thanos. I had my golden dagger-tipped shields raised towards the huge purple man, who seemed only intent on watching the numerous scenes playing out in front of him. I turned back to him hurriedly as Thanos' large booted feet shifted a hesitant step closer, his eyes still trained on Wong.

"Loss is always preventable." Thanos murmured with what sounded like either genuine sorrow, or really good acting.

Wong shook his head slowly and I could see his fury building as his hands moved with lightning speed from where he stood back by the open fridge. The giant tentacles retreated recklessly into the large open kitchen appliance and the heavy door slammed shut with an echoing thud in the now-silent room.

"If we prevent you from accomplishing your goal, then there will be no losses."

Wong drew his hands together in expert practice and conjured up a large glowing disc that spun in midair before him. Almost like a portal, it twirled and sparked but no other destination emerged through its center. I caught Wong's side glance and nodded curtly as he signaled that he would keep Thanos occupied while I should tend to Dan. As soon as I turned around, one of the sorcerers, a red haired girl in her mid-twenties darted into place with a shield, putting herself between Thanos and me and my friend.

"I will stop at nothing until I get what I want." Thanos responded, and I could almost physically feel his dark gaze on me as he was forced to assumingly deal with Wong first before getting back to me.

"We know."

I stopped right over Dan and looked back towards Wong as an unfamiliar voice spoke from behind him. My eyes widened by what I saw there.

A whole group of people, some familiar and some not, suddenly appeared one by one as they each entered the kitchen from the doorway. Among them I recognized Bruce Banner, bruised and battered but definitely angry enough to produce the Hulk should he have been able to. Another one that I spotted among them was Rhodey, with his War Machine suit looking even more damaged than it had the first time I'd seen him. A bleached-blonde woman in a skin-tight black outfit stood just beside Bruce along with a masked man in a dark-armored suit designed to look like a panther. There was a clatter of booming footsteps as a very huge man, this one obviously recognizable to _anyone_ as the God of Thunder, emerged from the hallway hefting a ridiculously large axe over one shoulder.

"Enough with the chitchat Rogers…let's finish this." Thor's deep and clearly agitated voice boomed as he threw a brief glance to the man who had spoken. The one nearest to Wong clenched his bearded jaw angrily as he stared levelly at Thanos who had stopped in his advances toward Wong. The man was in a dark navy suit and upon a further glance I noticed the indention where a bright star had previously been. Captain America.

"Yeah, we weren't done with you yet, Baldy." A gruff voice called from directly behind Thor. The Thunder God shifted only slightly and I caught a glimpse of a literal raccoon standing on its hind legs with a very large gun primed in its paws.

"I am Groot." A wooden creature spoke up, sliding itself through the door right beside the raccoon. One final man followed them in, this one possessing an entire metal left arm. My mouth gaped open at the assortment of heroes that filled the room, and my heart began to swell with excitement and a little bit of confidence that maybe our situation wouldn't be as hopeless as I'd dreaded.

"You couldn't defeat me before…do you all honestly think that the rest of you will survive this round?" Thanos said and I could see that his biting words caused a few of the Avengers to stiffen as some hidden meaning took hold of them. Thanos glanced down longingly at the Gauntlet over his left hand and I could see the larger Stone that was embedded on the back of the Gauntlet pulsed with a bright yellow glow. "Ripping the Mind Stone out of your friend's head didn't cause any of you to feel some realization at how dire the need for this is?"

"Wanda realized something. That she wanted to kill you even more." The blonde woman said lowly, her eyebrows pinched low over her stern gaze. Thanos' eyes gleamed amusedly at her.

"And she paid the price for her attempts. I've told you – I'll stop at nothing to finish this." Thanos said simply. I had no idea who Wanda was, but I imagined that she must have been the one who Bruce and Wong had been referring to before about the one person being close to the android with the Mind Stone in his head.

"You're repeating yourself." Thor said, his eyes almost glowing with his fury. Dan made a gasping sob at my feet and I hurriedly knelt down by his side, throwing Thanos a warning glance before I turned away from him. I caught Wong's eye and I could see that the golden disc he wielded had stopped flipping and now rested at his chest level. As I knelt down by Dan who was looking very pale and bleary eyed, Wong clasped his hands together and psychically mashed the glowing disc flat.

"How about we don't speak at all? That will save everyone the trouble and confusion of having to listen to you babble on and on about how 'this is your destiny' and that 'you're more powerful than all of us combined?' " Peter suggested sarcastically from where he stood by Dan's side across from me. I could see that he was almost if not even more excited than I was about having a bunch of the Avengers sharing the room with us.

Wong smirked at Peter's outburst and nodded at me to signal that I should tend to Dan who had once more let out a pained cry as he tried to shift his weight on the ground. The sorcerer then flicked his wrist forward and the flat disc that I had up until now thought was just a distraction from the Avengers' entrance, shot across the kitchen and through the dining room towards Thanos.

"Dan…Daniel…" I said as gently as I could when I had joined Peter by my best friend's side. Dan's hand gripped for mine tightly and I cringed as my gaze drifted to his crushed legs. There was no visible sign of blood but that made his injuries seem even worse to me.

"Alex…" He said, his gasping voice hoarse from the cries he had erupted with upon being nearly flattened by the huge fridge monster's limb. I looked at my friend with tears in my eyes, suddenly scared as our situation was finally falling into place. I could see his steady gaze through the shining pain in his eyes and I felt a shiver run through me as his expression seemed to look so final.

"It's alright, Dan…the Avengers are here to help us, see?" I asked gently, trying to take his mind off of the immense pain that wracked his body. Dan glanced briefly past me at the group of people suddenly rushing past Wong. Thanos had intercepted Wong's flying disc that had been intended to decapitate the huge purple alien and tossed it back with equal speed, causing Thor to leap forward and slam his axe into the conjured disc to dissolve it.

"Yeah…" Dan breathed weakly as his eyes seemed to glaze over with the pain. I shook his shoulder to get him to focus his dwindling attention back to me, my heart racing with fear.

"Alex, what can you do?" Peter whispered quickly, his mask gone and his kid-like face creased with worry as he kept tearing his gaze away from me and clearly itching to be in on the action. I imagined I looked the same way as I glanced back up to the skirmish going on between the Avengers and Thanos. The big man seemed to be toying with them, as if waiting for us to have our moment over in the corner for some reason. I narrowed my eyes as Captain America and the blonde woman dove to avoid a glowing purple mound of wall that erupted out of the opposite side of the kitchen. The last few sorcerers worked to hold what part of the ceiling tried to cave in on them and the other Avengers as Thor seemed to fly across the wide room to Thanos whose Gauntlet was glowing a different color for each attack he tried to deflect or dish out.

"Hang on Dan…I'm going to fix it…" I said as I reached for the Time Stone in my pocket, looking hesitantly back down to the disfigured lumps that were his legs jutting out in odd directions beneath the fabric of his robes. Dan's eyes widened fearfully and his hand gripped my wrist even tighter as he shook his head in a panic.

"No…Alex…please –"

"Boys, look out!" The girl who stood over us shouted suddenly, flashing her shield as wide as it would go to cover us. I flexed my hand that wasn't holding onto Dan and shot a burst of golden energy that diminished the mass of wall that had been thrown our way. Peter shot a cluster of webbing against the wall behind us that attached firmly to the floor just by Dan's feet. The largest hunk of wall that got past both me and the girl in front of us rebounded in Peter's web and flew back towards where Thanos was swatting War Machine aside. His strength sent the poor man crashing into the doors where the sorcerers were attempting to aid in the Avengers' attacks. Dan didn't even blink at the interference and that worried me as Peter and I exchanged slightly relieved looks once the immediate danger was cleared from our corner.

"I'm gonna help you, Dan. Just brace yourself…this might hurt as it rewinds…" I said uncertainly as I retrieved the Time Stone from my pocket and moved to stand up.

"What?! _No_ –"

Dan's eyes widened once more as he continued to protest but I peeled his death grip from around my wrist carefully. Dan struggled to move but cried out painfully as I glanced up at Thanos who currently had Thor pinned against the wall, the head of the Thunder God's axe held tightly in the villain's Gauntlet-covered hand. Thanos' gaze drifted over to me curiously as he almost effortlessly caused Thor to release his hold on his weapon and tossed the angered demigod aside into the already ruined counter.

Back against the double doors, Peter and I huddled over Dan protectively and the woman who still managed to stand between us and the ensuing battle braced herself for Thanos' approach. Seeing the direction that the giant villain was now headed, the Black Panther-suited man leapt forward onto Thanos' back, digging the claws of his suit into the purple man's bared shoulder. Thanos cried out more in surprise than from the pain that the man intended to cause and turned around, occupied only long enough to throw the figure from him alongside where Thor was collecting himself amid the rubble of the kitchen floor. Before Thanos could turn back to us, I had decided that I would hurry to reverse the damage done to my friend's legs and quickly join the battle.

"Alex, hurry – they need help…" Peter said, flicking his mask into existence and hiding his fearful expression. Dan had one hand clamped firmly around Spiderman's wrist and his other reaching to grasp for mine as well. I once more moved to stand up and perform the summoning to open the Time Stone but before I could fully stand, a figure slammed into me, shoving me back down into a crouch beside my friends.

"This is what he wants, Alex. You _can't_ reveal the Time Stone to him." Bruce Banner's voice muttered quickly in my ear. I looked up to him and could see that his face was streaked with blood and bruises from the first battle that they had just seemingly come from. I cringed as his words made sense to my nerve-wracked mind and I looked back down to see that Dan was staring hopefully up to Bruce as he had figured out what my friend had been trying to tell me.

"Then what do we do? We can't move him like this!" I argued, looking back at the scientist where he crouched by my side.

"A portal?" Peter suggested quietly, shrugging as if the idea was obvious. I rolled my eyes, trying to hide my panic behind my agitation.

"Thanos is somehow preventing us from being able to conjure portals in here. Otherwise these other sorcerers would've tried that by now." I explained crestfallenly.

"Then our objective is to try and sneak by this whole thing going on…" Bruce suggested quickly, nodding toward the battle going on between Thanos and Captain America. The bearded man was slicing his shields, both somehow attached to his forearms, towards the purple villain in a way that caused him to continue spinning to dodge the man's persistent attacks. That technique clearly didn't last long though, because Thanos feigned another dodge and when Captain America leapt to the side for his next swipe, Thanos planted an earth-shattering kick in the smaller man's midsection that sent him flying back in our direction.

"Woah!" I exclaimed as the woman standing guard over us let down her shield so that Cap had a few more yards to slow down before he slammed forcefully into the wall just beside us. Bruce's gaze instantly flicked back to the scene in front of us and he pushed me down and into Peter as something small went crashing straight into the doors directly behind us.

_"I am Groot!"_ A concerned voice shouted across the room. I looked hurriedly up towards the hero that had cried out and could see the thin tree guy running clumsily through the fighting area near the space where the dining table had once stood. The blonde woman, Thor and the Black Panther were forced to hesitate as the wooden humanoid figure ran in our direction before they dashed back towards Thanos, weapons cutting through the air in a blur.

"Ugh…Groot?!" A gruff voice said from the splintered door. I turned and could see the raccoon was crumpled against the bottom of the door on the floor, grunting as he tried to move back into a sitting position. The tree figure looked only briefly at Dan, Peter, Bruce and I as he knelt down next to the raccoon.

"I am Groot." He said in a soft, consoling voice. I gave Bruce a confused look as that seemed to be the only phrase that the creature behind us could say. The raccoon seemed to understand him well enough though because he patted the tree's hand with one of his small paws to reassure him that he was alright.

"Alex…" Dan said, taking my attention back once more. I looked at him, noticing that his eyes were closed even though his pained gasping breaths were still hitching in his chest.

"You're gonna be okay, we're trying to figure something out so we can get you out of here." I said gently, patting my friend's shoulder reassuringly as the raccoon and tree talked quietly just a few feet away. Captain America had moved himself over to Bruce and he seemed to be thinking of a plan as well.

"Kid…" The bearded hero said, singling me out before I could say anything else to Dan. "He's after _you_. I hate to say this…but the focus is to get you out of here before we do anything else."

I looked up at Captain America in weary realization. I threw a worried glance back down at Dan who was squinting up at me through tear-filled eyes. My friend nodded up at me once, urging me to leave him for what felt like the third time in the past five minutes.

"He's going easy on us right now. But that makes me think that it's because _you're_ in here with the last remaining Stone. For some reason he must think you're going to factor in to his plans to get it." Cap said thoughtfully, nodding up to where Thanos was bucking wildly in the center of the room as he attempted to shake off the blonde woman's tightening arms from around his neck. The Black Panther had Thanos' legs in an equally strong grip, and I could clearly see that the knife-like claws in his hands were digging firmly into the Titan's calves to cause the villain to limit his movements to avoid the claws sinking in deeper.

"So…what? We're just going to walk outta here?" I asked Cap uncertainly. Thor was standing directly in front of Thanos, tapping his axe warning in his hands and eyeing the wall of the kitchen. Wong stood furthest from the group, seeming to be keeping an eye on the fridge in case Thanos tried to use the huge monster inside it against the Avengers.

"No." Bruce answered me before the other Avenger could. The scientist nodded toward Peter whose eyes widened in surprise. "He is."

I blinked at Peter whose gaze drifted from Bruce to Captain America before landing slowly back on me. I unsurely began to move my hand to where the Time Stone still rested in the pocket of my robes but Bruce gently set his hand on my forearm as he stared at Peter.

"We're going to perform a body swap." Bruce said quietly, glancing quickly up as Thanos let out a protesting growl. The tree man, Groot, had angrily climbed to his feet and rushed at Thanos where the others were holding him. His arm-like limbs stretched quickly and eerily out towards the hulking villain and began to wrap methodically around his torso and struggling arms.

"We're going to do a what?!" I exclaimed at the same time as Peter. I narrowed my eyes at Bruce suspiciously as Captain America also seemed a little confused.

"What do you mean?" The bearded hero asked, intrigued. Bruce nodded over to Wong who seemed to sense that we were planning something tricky and within the practiced magic that he had tried to teach us.

"It should be pretty simple to do…" Bruce began to explain. He was silenced by Wong as the sorcerer shot a strip of red glowing tendrils towards Thanos, binding his hands into fists together in front of him. Upon seeing that Wong's glowing magic had formed into a makeshift pair of handcuffs around the Titan's huge hands, Peter stood up briefly and shot a thick wad of webbing from his wrist straight into Thanos' face, with such a force that the man was nearly shoved off of his feet. The blonde woman that had up until this moment been latched on to Thanos' back, leapt off with expert speed to allow him to fall.

"What you are thinking of doing could prove to be more complicated than you may be imagining…" Wong said, suddenly joining our small group at the back of the dining room/kitchen. His arms were crossed thoughtfully as he read the thoughtful glances between Cap and Bruce.

"Well, we're just going to have to risk it." Captain America stated firmly. Peter and I were left staring awkwardly in dumbfounded silence between the adults as they tried to piece together our plan.


	23. Decoy

"Just keep walking, and don't stop no matter what happens. Once the decoy is clear and Thanos is preoccupied with trying to reach it, we can sneak the real one out and away from here. While hopefully retrieving the other Infinity Stones in the process." Captain America reminded Peter and I who stood just a few feet apart from each other. Bruce still crouched over Dan trying to console him even though his situation seemed to be pretty bleak.

"Got it." Peter and I said automatically though neither of our faces seemed to show much hope in this plan.

"Now, the trick is to _make sure_ Thanos is watching when the change transpires." Wong said lowly, throwing a glance over towards the Avengers' attempts at continuing to hold the Mad Titan's attention. The blonde woman, Natasha – Bruce had briefly explained to us who everyone was – once more had latched herself onto the huge villain's back and seemed to be stabbing her gloved fists into the tendons of his neck. Thanos seemed to buck and jerk wildly as volts of electricity shot through him from the woman's fists in addition to Thor's concentrated bolt of lightning shooting from the only window in the room straight into Thanos' legs, keeping him immobile for the time being.

"So as soon as Nat and Thor let him loose, that's the moment we need to act. Because he'll definitely be angry." Cap finished quickly, making sure that both me and Peter were taking things seriously.

"Who wouldn't be?" The raccoon said sarcastically, having finally picked himself up off the ground by the double doors. I spared him only an uncertain glance before Cap clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"Now, just focus on the Time Stone. You know where the real one's really going to be, but we need to have the focus on the decoy."

"Right." I said, suddenly feeling impatient to hurry and get the plan in motion and over with as soon as possible. I looked down once more at Dan who was watching me through his eyes glazed with pain.

"Focus on Peter, Alex." Wong instructed me gently. I flicked my gaze back to Peter who gave me a knowing glance before his face disappeared behind his Spiderman mask. I continued to stare at him levelly for a moment, feeling the Time Stone burn in my pocket. I closed my eyes and focused on the steadily building heat of the pendant by my side, picturing that the burn was ebbing away and floating through the air to Peter who still stood motionless in front of me.

"Okay." I muttered quietly, opening my eyes to see that a dim green glow had drifted across the few feet of space between me and Peter. The faint glow had landed on Peter's chest where the small insignia of a spider rested, and Peter hesitantly reached a gloved hand up to his chest to tap the small button that was designed into the spider's body. The glow was almost immediately absorbed into the spider and Peter let out the breath he had been holding in relief, glancing back up to me and Wong with wide eyes expressed in his mask.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Cap glance up to Natasha who was waiting for his signal. Several things then happened at once. The buzzing of electricity ceased from both Thor and Natasha and there was a clatter as the woman was seemingly thrown from Thanos' shoulders and into the refrigerator door behind him. Thor swung with his axe before the villain could turn to finish his attack on Natasha and Bruce stood up quickly from Dan's side to allow me and Peter to move and pick my friend up from the floor. Dan had his jaw clenched shut but his protesting cries of pain started up again as we hurriedly pulled him up into our arms, causing Thanos to pause and look our way.

"Ready?" I muttered to both Dan and Peter. After a few seconds they both nodded and Dan's pained protests slowed to unsteady gasps as Peter and I supported him fully between the two of us.

"We're going to move him out of the way before this thing gets any messier." I said loudly, keeping my gaze away from Thanos who I noticed turned in my direction suspiciously. I looked from my friend's pained face to Peter's wide-eyed mask across from me.

"He won't let us leave –" Peter said, following my lead on keeping my voice loud enough to hear from across the room.

"He will if he knows what's good for him." Wong said as he walked by us and past the woman who still steadily held her shield up between our small group and Thanos with the few Avengers by him.

"I'm not one for sympathy." Thanos said lowly, stepping closer to Wong who stopped just in front of the woman's shield, clearly exposed.

"Neither am I." Thor intoned, heaving his axe up with a strained grunt at the weapon's weight.

"Okay…they've got him occupied for the moment…we're going to get you out of here now, okay Dan?" I said gently, shifting my friend slightly to jostle him and keep him still semi-conscious. His eyes rolled open wearily and he drooped his head forward in response.

"Watch it!" Peter's huge white eyes in the mask widened quickly as he darted forward with his other arm to catch Dan from falling limply forward. I did the same and for a moment there was a dizzying sensation as Peter and I collided together. We both had a hand on each of Dan's shoulders, and though we both remained motionless and attempted to keep Dan supported between ourselves, it felt as if I were moving closer and closer to Peter.

"Here boys, let me help." Bruce said in my ear suddenly. I could feel that Dan's sagging weight was pulled back slightly from me and relented to release my hold on his shoulders. Peter's hands, covered by his red Spiderman suit, were the ones that moved under my will. I blinked quickly and could see the hands that were originally mine moved a few seconds later.

I turned curiously and in a blur to see if the swap had really worked. When I turned to my left, it was like looking in a very strange mirror. After a millisecond of staring at the body next to me, I recognized my own familiar features. Having not looked in a mirror for the past day or so, I was a little alarmed by seeing my foreign appearance. Dark circles rimmed my eyes from lack of sleep and my dark hair was a mess of waves around my forehead. The reddish robes looked entirely too big on the body in front of me and as I continued to stare at myself, he blinked.

"…Peter?" I murmured uncertainly as he, in my body shifted oddly on his feet.

"Don't give us away…" He muttered quietly, moving to help Bruce situate Dan between me and the scientist. He slipped the Sling Ring off of his fingers and handed it to me discreetly so that Thanos wouldn't see. I nodded in hasty agreement, noticing that my vision through Peter's mask was as clear as if I wasn't even wearing it. I narrowed my eyes towards Thanos who was still watching us carefully, acting as if he'd missed our swap as I'd intended.

"I've got this." Peter said with my voice, stepping away from me and Bruce. He hesitantly moved to follow Wong around the shield lady's glowing mandala and Bruce met my frazzled gaze as I looked back down to Dan who also was watching Peter walk away with my body.

"This is so weird…" I muttered, hearing Peter's voice come out of my mouth. Dan gave me his usual side smirk and nodded wearily toward the double doors.

"The…the plan…" He murmured, barely opening his mouth to speak. His adrenaline was mostly spent and he was very likely on the verge of passing out at any second.

"Alex –" Bruce called after Peter worriedly. Peter turned around and pointed to the doorway at the front of the kitchen. He turned briskly back to Thanos who stood just a few yards away from where he and Wong stood side by side.

"You let them get my friend out of here and then we'll talk." He ordered Thanos gruffly. I watched as the huge purple man chuckled darkly and shook his head.

"I already told you, boy…you have no room to negotiate with me." He growled. Peter stared demandingly up at Thanos, and I recognized the glint of edgy fear in the eyes that were previously mine. After a moment, Thanos' shoulder relaxed only a tiny bit and Peter gestured for me and Bruce to move across the room.

As the two of us carefully dragged Dan across the dining room and connected kitchen, Natasha, Thor, Rhodey, Cap, Groot and the metal-armed assassin guy all stepped forward to move themselves between us and Thanos. I forced myself to keep my masked gaze away from the alien villain, but finally realized that he wouldn't recognize my face since I was now wearing Peter's anyway. The raccoon trailed after me and Bruce as backup in case things went sour, the raccoon wielding his oversized gun once more in his paws. When we'd reached the destroyed countertop, Dan's pained gasps slowed almost completely as he lost consciousness.

"Hey…come on man, we're almost there…" I hissed in my friend's ear, my heartbeat quickening even faster with worry. Bruce shifted his grip around Dan's back and nudged me to signal that I had to keep us moving out of the kitchen and to the hall outside away from the battle about to be picked back up.

"Alright, Alexander. Let's talk." Thanos said, figuring that me, Bruce and Dan were close enough to the kitchen door to be considered out of the way. I turned my head worriedly to see that Wong had conjured up his shields over both Peter and himself. Thanos held up his multicolored fist and I noticed that the whole thing seemed to flash purple as he prepared to use it. Bruce elbowed me again, bringing me back to earth.

"Alex, _stick to the plan_." Bruce muttered, still trying to move Dan while I had stopped.

"Kid, what's going on? We're almost there!" The raccoon spoke up from behind us. I looked to Dan's unconscious expression, taking in the beads of sweat and the ashen color of his face. I tried to put the feeling of his deadweight sagging between me and Bruce out of my head as I grudgingly continued dragging him out of the kitchen. Once we'd entered the destruction of the hallway outside, Bruce gestured to the training room right next door.

"In there…we'll get Dan out of the way and we'll call for backup. We can get some medical personnel in here asap for him." Bruce said breathlessly. Apparently without the Hulk, the super smart scientist had little to no strength of his own. "Then, you have to lead Thanos away. I'll stay with Dan until help arrives, don't worry."

I nodded through Peter's mask hurriedly, hearing the rumble that signified the use of one of the Infinity Stones followed by what sounded like a wall falling in on itself. Thor's thunder shook what remained of the Sanctum as he wound up for his retaliation and I heard a few other crashes as the fight next door resumed. Bruce and I carefully set Dan down against the wall just inside the training room and when Bruce stood up, I stayed crouched by my best friend's side.

"Hang on," I murmured to them both. Bruce looked at me uncertainly with his hand reaching for his pocket where I knew his cellphone probably waited. I flicked my head back and the mask covering my face automatically retracted back into the suit mechanically. Dan's breathing was slow and ragged as his body tried to figure out what to do to repair itself. Bruce seemed to read my hesitation and he moved closer to me and set a hand on my shoulder carefully.

"Alex, it's going to be alright. I've seen people come away from things much worse than this before." He said levelly. I shook my head slowly and looked back over to the raccoon who was shooting his large gun into the kitchen from the doorway just behind us.

"Hey, Raccoon!" I called with Peter's shaky voice. The furry creature turned in my direction a few seconds later, a gruff expression disfiguring his animal face.

"It's Rocket, kid." He growled, though I knew he wanted to call me something worse.

"Rocket…" I corrected myself slowly. I swallowed past the nervous lump in my throat and continued. "What's going on in there?"

"What do you think is going on in there?! We're all getting murdered trying to keep him preoccupied – just look at your friend! The plan seems to be working though…he's trying to come this way, thinking you have the Stone! Now hurry up and do what you're gonna do, or I'm gonna do it for ya!" Rocket said, his voice rising to be heard over the battle in the next room. Rocket shook himself after his outburst and then resumed firing his gun through the doorway where I heard his shots clang against the Gauntlet Thanos wore.

"It's time to disappear, Alex." Bruce said calmly, gesturing for me to summon a portal like we had planned originally. I fidgeted with the Sling Ring over my glove on my left hand and when I met Bruce's gentle, knowing gaze I nodded in halfhearted agreement.

"…But not without Dan." I said hollowly. Bruce's face fell into surprise as I shakily stood up and pressed the spider insignia on Peter's suit. A dim green glow swelled up from my chest, and I felt the familiar burning sensation of the Time Stone's essence I had sent to Peter to store in his suit. The real Stone was still in the pocket of my robes where Peter was currently pretending to be me, protected by Wong and the remaining Avengers.

"Alex, we had a _plan_...it's never good when someone decides not to stick to it…" Bruce warned, glancing over his shoulder worriedly. I nodded in acknowledgement without looking at the scientist and focused my sleep-deprived attention on my dying friend where he lay against the wall just beside the doorway of the training room.

"We'll get back on track with the plan in a second. I have to take care of my friend first." I said calmly.

I centered myself as deeply as I could within the circumstances and felt the burn spread throughout my upper chest. The green glowing band appeared in a flash around my wrist and I chanced a glance at the doorway where I could feel Rocket's gaze on me.

"What the hell are you _doing?!_ I really don't think that's a good idea, kid – put it away!" Rocket said, flicking his gaze back and forth between the glowing Time Stone's energy emanating from Peter's spider insignia and whatever was going on in the kitchen/dining room. I ignored him as I tried to keep my concentration up and from the corner of my eye I could see that the raccoon resumed rapidly firing his weapon into the room as the scene shifted obviously inside. He suddenly tossed the gun aside and scurried back towards me with a frantic look on his face. "Get ready to run kid – away from your friend!"

"Come on, Dan…" I muttered as I ignored Rocket and slowly twisted my wrist to the side to reverse time and hopefully heal my friend. My heart slowed with relief as the color steadily returned to Dan's face and his eyes began to uncertainly flutter open.

"Alex…there's…" Bruce was suddenly cut off as the wall to the left of where Dan rested blew apart, throwing the scientist against the pile of fallen ceiling where I had decimated Corvus Glaive's weapon. Rocket's small figure scurried around me and Dan, shouting out a few curse words as he peered through the newly blasted hole in the wall.

"You'd better get a move on, kid! He's headed right this way!" Rocket growled, clearly getting antsy at the delay with the plan.

I quickened my wrist's movements and stepped back hesitantly as Dan hurriedly shifted to his newly-healed legs. I smiled at my best friend in relief through tear-filled eyes and watched as the green band disappeared from around my wrist. I reached up to tap the spider insignia on my chest to conceal the small bit of Time Stone essence left in the small contraption and Dan looked down at the lower half of his body in disbelief.

"Alex…" He said breathlessly, and I threw him one of my teasing smirks which probably looked a little odd on Peter's face.

"It's kinda hard dragging you around with me all the time, ya know?" I joked lightheartedly. Dan's shoulders shook with the ghost of a laugh and that was when I realized that he was shaking his head sadly.

"Yeah…well it probably won't be for much longer." Dan said softly. When he finally looked up at me, his face was almost a cloud of misery. I shook my head trying to make sense of what he'd just said.

"What do you mean? You're okay now…" I said, hearing Peter's younger voice come out of my mouth. I looked down at the spider symbol embedded in the Spiderman suit on my chest and pointed at it before looking back up at Dan demandingly. "I reversed time to heal you, don't you realize what this means? We can't get hurt! Not for real, anyway."

Dan sighed deeply and looked at the giant hole that Thanos had blasted through the wall. Rocket had pressed himself against what was left of it just around the edge and out of sight where I could see the metal armed guy shooting another gun at Thanos who was out of my line of vision. When Dan turned back to me finally, he looked like he was about to tell me something he really didn't want to say.

"Alex…Peter…whoever you are at the second…you have to promise me that you won't risk letting the Time Stone be revealed just to try and save someone. The Avengers lost some of their numbers, and it's just something we might have to face. Saving the people here at this moment isn't the goal. We need to focus on preventing Thanos from getting all of these Stones so that the _whole world_ will be safe from him."

I blinked and waited for Dan to add more on to his little speech but there was no need. He knew something I didn't, and I figured he was still holding on to whatever visions the Orb of Agamotto had shown to him. As if he was reading my mind, Dan then smiled at me wearily and gently punched my shoulder.

"Now, go and lead this Thanos guy on a wild goose chase until we can figure out a way to get that Gauntlet away from him."

I nodded and then turned with my left hand raised before me to swirl a portal into existence behind us. When the upstairs hallway was blurred into view in the midst of a golden circle, I glanced back in time to see Rhodey collide with Thor who was barely in my vision through the gaping hole in the wall.

_"Boys, get down!"_ Bruce's pained voice shouted from the rubble he had been thrown into behind us. There was a flash of purple and the wall just behind Dan and in front of me exploded outward, throwing us into each other. In midair, I could see Dan twist himself around and flash a golden shield into place before a second explosion rumbled a millisecond after the first one.

_"Dan, look out!"_ I shouted as a bolt of lightning shot our way simultaneously. Dan turned his shield in the direction of the Thor's retaliating power blast, blocking it from hitting him fully. I had half a second to realize what the thunder god had been aiming for, before I was suddenly seized by my right arm and thrown into floor by giant hands.

"Don't move." Thanos barked from right above me. I looked up to see that the glowing multicolored Gauntlet was inches from my face and I punched at his giant hand, angered that he was able to hold me down so effortlessly. Another clap of thunder seemed to echo from the Sanctum itself and I cringed as I tried to brace myself for the impact it would have if Thor struck Thanos while he was attached to me.

"Thor, _stop!_" Rhodey's voice rang out from nearby. Thanos tore his triumphant face away from me for a brief moment to grin back at the Avengers.

"Afraid to hurt the kids, right?" Thanos said coldly with a terrifying smirk on his alien face. From my place on the ground, I could vaguely hear the sound of footsteps approaching on my left and I tried to squint my eyes to the side to see who was daring to just simply walk up to the Mad Titan.

"Lucky for me, I'm not afraid if we get hurt."

I recognized my own voice coming from a few feet away and I also could see the slippers that went along with the robes Wong had given me from the corner of my eye. Peter was trying to stand his ground against Thanos just as I would have. The giant purple man stood up just a tad straighter, still keeping the Gauntlet aimed at my face.

"Give me the Time Stone or the Spider gets it." He warned lowly, clearly long done playing games and waiting for something to happen. His tauntingly knowing smile still lingered and I felt another wave of anger run through me with his threat.

"See…I don't have it…" Peter said with my voice and I could visibly see the massive eyeroll that Thanos delivered upon just the first few syllables out of Peter's mouth.

"Enough stalling. One of you has it and you have five seconds to hand it over." He said, actually sounding bored with us. Peter, still possessing my body stepped into my line of vision, his eyes on me dejectedly.

"You have to give it to him, Peter. We're out of options." He said, going along with the body swap name calling. I caught the twinkle in his gaze that meant he had a plan and I hesitantly flicked my gaze back to the villain who still pinned me down. Thanos released his hold on my neck just enough to allow me to move my head and look at the spider insignia on my chest. When I glanced back up, Peter had shifted slightly further into my vision and I could see Wong just behind him, waiting for me to meet his gaze. When I started to shift hesitantly to my feet, Thanos stayed intimidatingly standing over me. I threw a look towards the few people in my vision and caught Wong's subtle nod as he silently moved behind Thanos who still had his right hand clenched in a fist expectantly.

"Um…_okay_…" I said with Peter's shaky voice, playing up my soreness from being thrown into the ground by the Mad Titan in a lead-up to the grand reveal. I met the huge villain's gleaming gaze as my hand wavered over the spider in my chest. As soon as my finger touched the small insect design, I had a quick glimpse of green before a ball of fur slammed into my chest, attacking and clawing at me in a deranged and unstoppable frenzy.

_"You – can't – let – him – just – take – it!"_ Rocket shouted in between swipes and punches at my borrowed face. I clawed and fought to get him off of me, and distantly heard the hum of the Stones above me.

"Rocket – _stop!_" I shouted before the ground below me disappeared. I was suddenly falling freely, Rocket now latching his paws around my neck to keep from flying away from me in our descent. Over his furry head, I could see that we had fallen through a portal that Wong had conjured, and were now currently falling from the ceiling of the Sanctum and straight towards the ground.

"Kid?!" Rocket exclaimed, latched onto my back with a death grip. I had a millisecond of time to consider how strong of a hold his paws had before I hastily conjured up my own portal in the floor of the Sanctum before we could collide with it.

_"Brace yourself!"_ I warned him loudly as we vanished through the portal and transported to the upstairs hallway. I had positioned that portal at an upright angle so that instead on falling headfirst into the ground, we were flying horizontally down a small bit of hallway before we rolled to a stop on the polished wood floor.

"What was the freak-out for?!" I exclaimed hurriedly, feeling several scratches and scrapes from his small but mighty paws.

"Your pudgy magic friend just told me to keep up the illusion that you had the real Stone. So I tried to cover it up so Thanos wouldn't see that the green light show disappeared as soon as you opened up that spider thing." He said casually. I pressed a gloved hand to my face and could see that the red fabric was dyed a deeper crimson when I lowered my hand again to examine it. I threw the raccoon an agitated glance and pointed to an open door up ahead.

"That leads to the library. Wong had me and Dan train in there last night unexpectedly and he caused the whole room to flood with water until we found a way out. Maybe if we can lure Thanos in there, I can try to replicate that." I suggested quickly. Rocket stopped in his tracks and gave me a disbelieving look.

"You think he won't know that it's an illusion?" He asked. "I've seen your magic tricks, kid and they're pretty good, but are they _that_ good?"

"It won't be an illusion, it'll be real." I explained quickly, suddenly able to hear the clatters and rumbles from downstairs. "We honestly almost drowned when Wong did it!"

"Well, you'd better get Wong on the same page with that plan because if you try to put that much power into it, then that's sure to wear you down fast." Rocket grumbled thoughtfully.

"No – I have something better."

Dan appeared suddenly on my right, blocking our entrance to the library. He dissolved the portal he had conjured to reach us and quickly elaborated.

"If we can somehow get to the ship up there –" He pointed up to the ceiling where I assumed he meant the sky. "The one that Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian got here with – we can destroy his method of transportation. He won't be able to go anywhere to even use the Stones!"

"Let me stop you right there, Danny Boy…there ain't no ship up there anymore." Rocket interrupted him quickly. Both me and Dan stared down at him in surprise.

"But that's what blew a hole straight through the front of the building." I said hurriedly, glancing around at the destruction that apparently existed in all corners of the mansion. "That's how they got here earlier."

"And that's apparently how they showed up in Wakanda too. But Wong teleported us right outside the door of this house here and we didn't see a sign of any spaceship out there then. Thanos had no issue at all just portaling those baddies and that ship away from the battle in Wakanda when it seemed like we were being overpowered. Once he yanked that yellow Stone out of the robot guy's head, he made himself disappear too." Rocket explained.

"So he can portal too?" Dan repeated slowly, the knowledge creating a new fear in both of us. Rocket nodded and crossed his little arms over his furry chest.

"Yeah…much like you can. So I'd scratch out any ideas where you think you can trap the guy cuz most likely he'll be able to get out of it easier than you can put him there."

"Maybe the ship was programmed to know when the owners weren't returning. Once I got rid of Proxima Midnight, it must have retreated automatically." I murmured thoughtfully. I snapped my fingers and pointed to Dan. He spoke the same thought I had before I could utter it.

"Simple magic tricks alone won't be able to stop him. We have to outwit him." Dan said.

"Duh, is that not what we've been trying to do?!" Rocket retorted looking back and forth between me and my friend. Neither of us returned his critical gaze.

"Thanos thinks that I, pretending to be Peter, have the Time Stone. So he's coming up here after me any second now. And when he does, maybe the real Peter and I need to swap back. I honestly have no idea how to work this high-tech spider suit…so trying to fight Thanos using these reflexes and spider powers will probably do more harm than good to myself. And then with him preoccupied with you guys up here…" I said absently.

"That should work. Okay, switch back then while we've got you covered." Dan said, turning around to flick his golden mandala shields into existence. I hesitated to leave my best friend with just a weaponless talking raccoon as backup and Dan seemed to realize this because he threw his familiar annoyed glance over his shoulder when I didn't move.

"Just something I wanna do first…" I said crossing the hallway past Dan and reaching over Rocket's head for the uneven picture frame that still hung on the wall. I straightened it and heard the distant click of the opening secret passageway behind us. Rocket looked up at me as I made my way back to my original position and shook his head skeptically.

"You've got some real perfection issues, huh kid?" He grumbled sourly, having completely missed the revelation of the door behind him. I gave him a humored smirk as I leaned closer to Dan.

"Promise me if things go sour up here, you'll retreat to the passageway." I muttered to him. Dan frowned at me with a knowing glance before shifting his shoulders and nodding his head.

"You want us to get stuck in there…_knowing _that Thanos can get in and out easily? Did you miss the part where the raccoon said he could teleport too?" He said sarcastically. Rocket threw his paws in the air clearly irritated with us calling him by the animal that he was.

"I don't think he _will_ be able to get out easily." I said in contradiction. "I wasn't able to use the Time Stone in there earlier…so maybe the Infinity Stones count as magic that the passageway repels?"

Dan hesitated for a brief moment before nodding in agreement. I still didn't move, wanting to know that he would follow my suggestion if the need arose to retreat. He finally glanced back at me with fear clearly present in his eyes as his shields held out in front of him shook with his worried stance. I nodded in confirmation and then pointed to Rocket.

"Watch out for the little guy too." I said lightly. Rocket grumbled out some unheard curse under his breath and I grinned at him tauntingly. As I turned back around to try and center myself to perform the body swap again, my breath caught in my throat. Thanos appeared before my very eyes surrounded in a cloud of sparking blue energy, seemingly conjured from the blue Stone glowing brightly on his fist.

"You'd better be watching out for yourselves as well."

I reflexively flicked my wrist in Thanos' direction and clicked the small shooters embedded in the palms of my gloves as I'd seen Peter do several times this afternoon. As I'd hoped, a string of webbing flew out of the contraption in the wrist of the suit and before it could latch onto Thanos' face like I'd anticipated it to, the Mad Titan merely raised his Gauntlet- covered hand and disappeared in a red glow. The web instead hit the wall behind where he'd just stood and I had just enough time to whirl around before I could see that the Thanos I had been facing before had been merely an illusion. The real Thanos was standing over Dan who had just been knocked to the floor. My friend resisted falling completely down and braced his knees against the floor with his glowing shields held in front of him so Thanos couldn't strike him again.

_"Leave him alone!"_ I shouted, running towards him and leaping over Dan's hunched shoulders to land firmly on his golden mandalas before leaping upward and punching Thanos squarely in his jaw. The large man grunted in protest and grabbed me by the neck, throwing me into the wall beside him. The wall gave in slightly with the force of my collision and I hurried to scramble to my feet before Thanos could whirl on me. Instead, he was focusing on Dan who had a shield hovering over one arm and a golden whip in the other. Rocket was huddled underneath my friend's shield, ready to leap out and attack rabidly should Thanos try to get past it.

_"I don't have it either!"_ Dan shouted to something I hadn't heard Thanos say to him. I looked down at the spider insignia on the chest of Peter's suit and could see that it had been left open. Seeing no green glow emanating from it, Thanos had immediately lost interest in me and just assumed that whatever bits of essence of the Time Stone were left up here with us was coming from either Dan or Rocket.

I struggled to my feet and shot a web at the back of the purple man's left shoulder, yanking with all my might to prevent him from delivering another blow to Dan's weakening shield. Both Dan and Thanos jerked around in my direction and I quickly released the web from my right wrist to roll out of the way reflexively as a blast of purple energy was shot towards me. The wall where I had just been exploded inward, revealing the room on the other side of it. The sound of cannon fire reverberated and I clamped my hands over my ears as a whoosh of frigid air flew past me and straight for Thanos. Apparently the Sanctum's spirits had been taking refuge in that particular room and were deeply disturbed by Thanos' use of the purple Infinity Stone.

_"Fear not, dear apprentices!" _

_"We must do our part to protect our home!" _

My eyes widened at their odd remarks and when I saw Thanos stumble under some unseen force of energy, I understood that the spirits were attempting their own method of retaliation. Thanos held up his bare right hand to ward off the spirits' ghostly energy as it looked like he was caught in hurricane-level winds. Dan and Rocket dove away from him as he stumbled drunkenly in their direction, the spirits encasing the large villain in a sort of mini invisible tornado.

In the midst of the violent ghost-tornado, Thanos suddenly stopped and focused on the first figure he could see. With lightning speed he raised his golden fist and a blast of glowing multicolored energy shot straight from his Gauntlet and through Dan and the wall directly behind him. The spirits that had been unleashing their fury upon the Mad Titan vanished in another explosion of cannon fire and the hallway was cast into dead silence once more. Thanos stayed where he was and I flicked both of my wrists in his direction to shove him backwards, pinning him to the ruined wall with a web on each of his shoulders. Seeing from the corner of my eye that the giant villain wasn't currently going to fight his bonds, I dove forward as I saw Dan's knees buckle from underneath him.

"Oh Dan…" I muttered, my voice eerily calm. Rocket scurried out of the way before Dan fell completely to the ground and then stood unsurely by my friend's side. I hesitated as I took in the sight of the gaping and smoking hole in Dan's torso and my heart leapt into my throat, causing me to literally choke out a surprised cry. Dan's deadening gaze swiveled in my direction and with some inhuman strength he held out his hand in a signal that told me not to come any closer.

"Hey uh…Spider-boy…I don't think…" Rocket said quietly holding both of his paws up towards Dan where he was wobbling weakly with his knees barely holding him up on the floor. Thanos still stood motionless against the wall, though I knew that he could easily escape the webbing I had shot at him.

"Dan…" I whispered, wishing that I, as myself were standing here in front of my dying friend. His eyes lost focus and I dove forward as I watched him slump to the side towards Rocket. Before his upraised arm fell however, an overwhelmingly strong blast of golden energy exploded from Dan's palm, throwing me backwards past Thanos. My vision then blurred, whether through tears or just an emotional blackout. I succumbed to it eagerly for the moment, feeling myself roll to a stop and go limp on the ruined floor of the hallway. The last thought that flew through my head was that my best friend would no longer be here to help me through this unbeatable battle.


	24. Wong's Final Decision

"Peter, what happened? What's wrong with you?"

Wong's voice was over me in an instant and I felt strong hands lifting me up from beneath my shoulders. My first thought was confusion because only milliseconds before, I had been in the upstairs hallway with Dan, Rocket and Thanos.

Dan. My best friend who'd only moments ago had a massive fist-shaped hole burned straight through his torso.

I jerked my head to the side and attempted to shake my vision back but for some reason my head was lost in a fog. The hands caught a firm grip on either of my shoulders and tried to still me from my panicking outbursts on the ground.

_"I can't see!"_ I finally protested, reaching up to my face with one hand, feeling a dull pain burning in my shoulder. I cringed as the familiar wound made me realize that I was once more in my own body and no longer swapped with Peter. _"Wong?!"_

"…Alexander?" Wong said in slow surprise. I looked up towards the sorcerer's voice, my eyes still unseeing to what was presumably right in front of me. I felt the hands grasping my shoulders move away and assumed that Wong had knelt beside of me as his hand turned my head in his direction.

_"Why can't I see?!"_ I exclaimed, trying and miserably failing at remaining calm. My chest was tight and I felt like I couldn't breathe. The space around us was eerily silent and that fact caused me to panic even worse as I had no idea what had transpired in the short time Thanos had been facing off down here against the Avengers in an attempt to get to me with the decoy.

"Woah Alex…calm down a second…" Bruce's familiar voice sounded from nearby.

"What just happened?" A gruff voice demanded from above Wong.

"They switched back…" Wong said thoughtfully, removing his hand from my jaw. I felt a small whoosh of air just in front of my face, imagining that the sorcerer was waving his hand there to check if I really was blind. Angrily, I shoved his hand away and struggled to my feet, nearly falling when I found no wall or anything around me.

"Yeah, I know! Now tell me what the hell is wrong with my eyes!" I demanded, looking in the direction I thought Wong stood. I heard the now familiar hum of a conjured spell directly in front of me and I held up my hands to ward against him, feeling the warmth of my golden mandala shields form over my fists.

"Did you mean to swap back?" Wong asked me calmly when he realized that I was still in full panic-mode and had no intention of letting him perform whatever spell he had ready before explaining what was going on.

"No, it was – Dan…" I stammered. My chest hitched painfully as I fully recounted what had just happened in the upstairs hallway. "Dan hit me with a spell and knocked me backwards and…I guess I…I let the illusion fall…"

"Then you weren't ready for the reversing process. You returned to your body too quickly and it's forcing itself to slow down. Normally it would take another few moments to regain your sight, but…"

Since I was unable to see, it was very easy for Wong to take me by surprise and my shields went down in an instant as I felt him strike towards me forcefully with whatever unseen weapon he had conjured. Before I could react again, I felt a blast of warm energy shoot through me and barely had enough time to catch myself before I was knocked to my knees once more by Wong's directed energy. I saw a flash of golden light before I blinked several times in a row, each time noticing that my vision thankfully grew clearer.

"But we have methods of speeding up things like that." Wong finished curtly as I looked up in surprise to find the sorcerer helping me to my feet from where I had fallen.

I was once more in the dining room, shoved in a corner along with Wong, Bruce and the Black Panther-suited man. I glanced around at the destruction of the once elegant room, seeing that the Avengers had moved out, hopefully in pursuit of where Thanos had gone up to the second floor of the mansion. I jolted myself into motion with the purpose of reaching that destination as well.

_"Stop."_ The Black Panther ordered, throwing his arm in front of me, claws bared and all before I could dash past him.

"Dude, don't try to stop me…" I protested sharply, throwing the masked hero a hate-filled look when he refused to let me past. "I have to get back to them!"

"Uh Alex…you might want to be careful how you act in front of a king…" Bruce said slowly, nodding towards the Panther-man. The masked man stared levelly at me and my eyes widened as I fell silent for a moment before I shook my head unquestioningly.

"I'm – sorry, but I really need to get up there to help! He just killed Dan, Wong! _You don't understand…_" I said tearing my gaze away from the Panther-king guy in front of me.

"…Dan?" Bruce asked in disbelief, wide-eyed sorrow written in his face. The scientist looked between me and Wong for a long moment before wrapping his arms around himself unsurely. "Oh this is _bad_…"

"Yeah, it's bad!" I said sarcastically, once more attempting to move away from the small group so that I could return to face off the alien villain again myself. "When I get to the Thanos I'm gonna…"

Wong struck out hurriedly to stop me from moving away and gripped my injured shoulder intentionally to bring me back to rational thinking. I let out an angered curse before I could finish my threat.

"Alexander…the decoy was sought after by Thanos according to plan. Let the Avengers take care of him while we finish what we were trying to do before you caused Peter to lose consciousness." Wong said calmly. I shook my head and whirled on him angrily.

"No…I messed up, okay?! _Let me go so I can try to fix it!"_ I said hurriedly, not hearing him.

_"You cannot let the Time Stone be seen!"_ Wong shouted right back to me, and I cringed beneath his critical gaze. He glanced to the side and sighed deeply before continuing at a lower volume. "I know for a fact that you used the afterimage of the Stone to heal Daniel before, and I'm actually surprised at how well that technique worked to draw Thanos to you and away from the real Stone. But I am warning you…_do not stray from this plan again._ Try to keep your mess ups to a minimum until we get through this."

Wong's face was a mask of genuine pleading and I looked in the direction he had briefly glanced to. I could see that Natasha Romanoff lay unconscious just a few feet away from us, along with the woman who had only moments ago held her magical shield up between my small group and Thanos to bar us from him as we tried to form this said plan. Thor's lightning had blown out the whole wall that had separated the dining room and kitchen from the hallway and there were small fires and singe marks lingering nearly everywhere in the wreckage of the room.

"This was no time for mess ups in the first place." The Black Panther said lowly, turning his dark masked face up to Bruce accusingly. "I thought you said he was the one that this Doctor Strange felt could handle this?"

"I _am.._." I muttered as I felt my emotion welling up in my voice.

"I am Groot…?" A voice called meekly from a few yards away.

I looked around hurriedly to see that the tree man had wandered over to us quietly, scanning the wreckage as well. I offered him an unknowing glance before leaping to the floor when a booming crash sounded from above the hallway across the room and something large fell through the ceiling. A very large axe fell from the hole just milliseconds later, and I saw a muscular arm shoot up from the ground to catch the weapon before it could harm the body who had fallen before it.

"I am Groot?!" Groot asked once more, glancing at Thor as he seemed to recognize him. The tree man then turned to look between the thunder god and our small group on the other side of him.

"He wants to know if the rabbit is safe." Thor's deep and demanding voice spoke after a second. I uncurled myself from the ball I had huddled into behind Wong's mandala, seeing that Thor had picked himself up from the wreckage of the fallen ceiling.

"Uh…" I answered dumbly, noticing that Groot was still staring at me hopefully.

"Rocket was with you when Wong portal'd you away from Thanos." Bruce answered thoughtfully, looking to me. I looked back at Groot and shrugged my shoulders unknowingly.

"Rocket was upstairs with me and Dan before Thanos came…I assume he's still up there. I'm sorry, I don't know…"

"I did not see your friend anywhere in sight when we got to Thanos. I assume he is in hiding since he's weaponless until I return this to him." Thor answered after another moment, picking up Rocket's abandoned gun on the floor of the hallway where the raccoon had left it before. Thor nodded to us curtly before raising his axe with a rumble of thunder. He then leaped back up in a single bound to the second floor and the battle that presumably raged up there. As soon as the god of thunder had gone, something in my memory clicked.

"The secret passageway…what if he ran to hide out in there? I told them about it as I was trying to come back…but then Thanos had already found us." I said thoughtfully. Groot moved closer and I noticed that his features looked expectant as if he were eager to get up there to investigate where Rocket had gone.

"That's unimportant at the moment, Alex. We need to finish the spell that will bind the Time Stone to the Mirror Dimension before we focus on stopping Thanos." Wong said quickly. The Black Panther suited man, who was seemingly acting as our defense in addition to Bruce and the timid looking Groot behind me, stepped swiftly away from us as Natasha Romanoff stirred on the ground a few yards away.

"We need to bind it to the Mirror Dimension? How do we do that? What good will it do?" I asked hurriedly, sensing that things were going terribly upstairs above us. Numerous crashes and shouts could be heard among the humming use of each of the different Infinity Stones as the Mad Titan used them against the heroes continuously trying to confront him.

"The Mirror Dimension is essentially a Mirror of this one. But like I've told you before, things that occur over there do not affect what happens here. So if we were to bind the Time Stone to that dimension…"

"Thanos wouldn't be able to get to it unless we let him in. That's why you told me that you never leave the Mirror Dimension open because literally almost anyone could accidentally happen to walk into it." I finished thoughtfully. Wong nodded serenely.

"Precisely. I was just explaining that all to Peter before you complicated things by reversing the body switch without warning."

"Or uncomplicated things rather…" I contradicted him slowly. "I had no control over Peter's Spider abilities and I was actually telling Dan that I was planning on switching back myself but then…you know I'm sure."

Wong studied me warily for a moment as if able to definitely tell what had transpired on the second floor just a few moments ago. Rather than look sympathetic he looked as if he were ready to catch me should I try to run off back up to find my best friend where he was either dying or already gone. I had no idea whether or not the Time Stone could bring him back from the dead, but I at least wanted to try.

"Could we get on with this, please?" The Panther man said impatiently. When I glanced over to him unsurely, his mask dissolved into the rest of his suit. His face was contorted with urgency as he knelt over Natasha. "Once the Stone is safe, we must shift our focus to retrieving the others. We can't do that while half of us are down here trying to ensure that it is being taken care of."

"I'm fine T'Challa…let me up." Natasha muttered quietly as the man tried to gently still her movements and attempts to stand up despite her evident injuries. Bruce had made his way over to the wounded woman as well and at her request, he respectfully backed off. T'Challa finally relented to allow her to stand on her own as well and once she steadied herself with one hand pressed against her heavily bleeding side, she shooed him away hurriedly. "Go…we can cover them for now."

T'Challa considered the blonde haired spy for a moment before offering her a weary smirk and a fond pat on her shoulder, the claws from earlier having been retracted back into the gloves of his suit. Without a word, he nodded and his panther mask crept back over to cover his face as he soundlessly shot across the room and towards the raging battle against Thanos. Natasha glanced back at us once T'Challa was out of sight and when she realized that we were all looking over at her worriedly, she removed her hand from the wound in her left side.

"Hey Tree, between you, me and Bruce, I think we can handle babysitting duty, don't you?" She called casually to Groot beside me. Bruce glanced nervously at the spy woman and smiled only slightly at her perseverance. I noticed by the way he was standing that he seemed to favor one of his legs over the other and that he held his left arm closer to his chest, just a few of the injuries he had sustained from one of the two battles he'd been through this day.

"I am Groot." The tree guy muttered softly in response to Natasha's lighthearted comment. Natasha nodded reassuringly to him and I heard him move to join her and Bruce a few yards away where they could keep a trained gaze on the gaping hole in the wall where the Black Panther had just disappeared.

"Okay, so how do we exactly go about binding the Time Stone to the Mirror Dimension?" I asked Wong hurriedly, eager to get upstairs and face down Thanos for what he had done to my best friend. As if able to sense my grief-stricken thinking, Wong regarded me stiffly.

"First, we need to open the Mirror Dimension, of course." He said slowly as if it were supposed to be a simple process. I flicked my wrist and flexed both of my palms outward toward the open room by my side. The air crystalized immediately, casting twinkling patterns of light on the floor and remaining bits of wall around us.

"Step one, done." I said impatiently, no longer taking the time to marvel over how amazing the conjuring process was and the magic that had been produced. Wong glanced down at my hands in slight surprise before nodding abruptly.

"Next, we must both enter the Mirror Dimension to find a safe hiding place for the Stone." Wong ordered, gesturing towards the shimmering entrance I had just unlocked.

"We need to pick a hiding place?" I repeated. "Why not just drop it on the floor in there? It's not like Thanos could even get through here without one of us opening the dimension for him."

"Just…pay attention to what he tells you, kid. With the kinda things that are going on, it's probably smart to listen." Natasha said gently. As I glanced back in her direction, I noticed that she cringed in pain as she offered me a supportive nod. Bruce moved closer to her and allowed her to lean against his shoulder as she once more clamped a hand against her bleeding side.

"Okay…sure." I said in agreement, turning back to Wong who still had his hand gestured out towards the entrance into the Mirror Dimension. I stepped through the crystalline border between worlds and emerged in the all-around twinkling mirror of the ruined room. Natasha, Bruce and Groot were all looking in our direction but could no longer see us in this dimension. As we disappeared to them, they all moved closer towards the doorway between the real world and the mirrored one to protect the entrance.

"Follow me." Wong said curtly, moving past me and towards the front of the dining room and kitchen. I trailed after him quickly, finally able to keep pace with the purposeful sorcerer.

"We're leaving them?" I asked quizzically, but still following his orders. Wong didn't glance back at me but I heard his condescending sigh as he maneuvered us through the destruction of the hallway outside the room and toward the front foyer of the Mirrored Sanctum.

"They have to keep the entrance to the Mirror Dimension guarded. I thought you understood how this whole thing worked?" Wong said with sarcasm. I clenched my hands into nervous fists, chancing a small glance back to where we'd left Bruce, Groot and the Black Widow, my worries with them. If Thanos sensed me exposing the Time Stone to conceal it here from him, then that room would be the first place he'd go. And with Natasha most likely mortally wounded, Bruce very nearly there as well and Groot seeming rather lost without Rocket…they'd be easy targets.

"I placed a ward over the dining room before we left. Thanos will not be able to enter the room without tripping a psychic alarm that will alert me in time for us to close the Mirror Dimension to him." Wong said lowly as if he were able to read my thoughts. I grimaced at his superior abilities to think of everything on the spot and continued following close beside him as we swiftly jogged throughout the once beautiful Sanctum on Wong's chosen path.

"When this is all over with, you have to teach me to read minds like you can." I said seriously, peering down a hallway that looked as if it were glowing mystically with an orange light even in the already twinkling atmosphere of the Mirror Dimension.

"When this is all over with…" Wong repeated drily. "I'll retire and let you take my place."

I fell into silence and hesitated slightly as Wong turned in the direction of the shining hallway like I'd feared he would. When he held up his hand for me to pause behind him, I was almost relieved.

"This may get tricky…" He explained softly, gesturing with his other hand towards the shimmering hallway. "Through there is the heart of the Sanctum. It is heavily enforced with dozens of wards and entrapments both in our dimension and even doubly so here. We keep our most dire weapons and spell books hidden secretly there so that no enemies may reach them."

I stared at the growing brightness of the hallway before us, seeming to feel a rumble of thunder somewhere in the distance. I looked in the direction of the upstairs hallway wondering if the sound from the real world had been able to reach us through the borders of the Mirror Dimension.

"Why didn't we put the Stone here in the first place?! Why did Strange keep it out in the open like he did?!" I asked skeptically. Wong kept his back to me as he replied simply.

"Like I've told you and Dan both repeatedly, we did not expect Thanos to come for the Time Stone so abruptly. I had no inclination about Strange's full plan once we _did_ realize what was going on. He was gone, leaving the two of you here with no hope of possibly protecting this Stone. I spent the past few days endlessly training you both with the small bit of explanation Strange had given me that the Time Stone should remain with you and you alone. You practically refused to be taught the skills without Daniel being taught as well and that just took more time and energy. I'm not one to complain, but I _should_ have done this myself a long time ago."

My mouth was open in an exclamation of shock as Wong's words hit me. I stared at the back of his head for a long moment waiting for him to turn around and add anything else to his calm outburst but he didn't. He continued leading me forward into the twinkling hallway, and an odd coolness began to wash over us both as we grew closer to our destination.

"After you." Wong said as he flicked his wrist towards the brightest section of the hall, and the orange glow swam dizzyingly as he seemed to unlock something there. I silently moved past him and pressed my palm into what felt like an ordinary wooden door beneath the blinding brightness of it. I gently nudged it open and found that we entered another sort of library, this one not as elegant as the one that existed upstairs in the regular Sanctum.

"Okay, now all we do is just find a nice place to set this down and then we're good?" I asked hastily, scanning the small library with my hurried gaze. Books littered the floor, organized in symmetrical stacks almost a head taller than my height in some places. A few glass cabinets much like the ones that had lined the front hallway upon my arrival also stood prominently around the room, though these didn't seem to be filled with nearly as many artifacts or objects.

"I wish it were that easy." Wong muttered from behind me. I turned to see that he was considering one of the smaller cabinets where an ancient-looking skull rested on a little glistening stand. The skull itself seemed to warp and pulse with a darkness that flickered from one spot to another on the cranium. Not wanting to get any closer to the odd thing, I swallowed hard and tried to imagine what dangerous kinds of magic it was laced with and why Wong seemed so intrigued by it.

"We're uh…not using that, are we?" I asked when Wong continued to study the skull without movement for another long moment. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet and then chanced a few steps nearer to the sorcerer in case there was something I was missing. I finally found myself by his side, still feeling awkward and confused by what exactly Wong was studying on the eerie object. When I looked away from his unmoving body and down towards the skull in curiosity, Wong suddenly jerked back to life and shoved me away from his side.

_"You mustn't look into her eyes!"_ He shouted, his urgent tone reverberating around the small library-like room. I frowned at his exclamation in even further confusion, making a point to stand far away from the man and the creepy object within the cabinet. Wong took one last glance at the grinning skull, squinting as if to see something deeper in it and then nodded halfheartedly as if in reply to something.

"Can I ask what it is?" I chanced lightly, my confusion deepening.

"The skull of Karnilla the Enchantress…" Wong said by way of an explanation. I stared at him expectantly, trying to keep my gaze from wanting to look at the skull again as the sorcerer continued. "She was very talented in her practices of Asgardian skills and magic in her times. Her skull is preserved here to prevent her from returning to life as she has already once. It took Strange nearly two years to track her down once she had been banished to Earth from Asgard. She was using her magic to murder helpless humans in order to gain immortality here on this planet and when Strange confronted her, she retreated into this skull."

"…Wow." I said absently, trying to keep my gaze from drifting towards the magical skull.

"Yes." Wong said curtly, as if telling me that it would be useless for me to expect any more information than he'd given me in that short summary of the skull's history.

"Okay…so is there anything else I need to _not_ look at?" I asked sarcastically as he once more took the lead through the winding stacks of books and cabinets. Wong didn't answer again, but I could still hear the lingering echo of the odd tone he had used to warn me away from the Enchantress' skull.

Wong led me to the opposite side of the small library and we both stopped before a strange empty space in the wall between two large shelves. Wong gestured for me to stand back a little ways and then he bowed his head as if he were looking at something in the blank wall in front of him. After a moment of watching him stand perfectly still, I leaned forward just a bit to see Wong's serene expression, noticing that his eyes were closed and that he hadn't been examining the wall like I'd thought.

I glanced around uncomfortably at some of the relics around the room, noticing that the shelves on either side of us housed not books, but animals. Taxidermy animals that looked so lifelike, I could almost see them breathing.

On the shelf to my left I spotted a black cat with bright green marble-like eyes, a large brown-colored rat with teeth that curled below its chin unnaturally and an iguana frozen with its head raised and back arched as if in anticipation. I looked away from the animals on the left shelf and switched my gaze to the right one.

In the center of the three shelves was a giant horse head that looked as if it were erupting out of the shelf with a maddened gaze despite the glassy film over the animal's eyes. On the shelf above that stood a tarantula nearly two feet in its size, and part of me honestly wished that the spider was some kind of Halloween decoration instead of the real, taxidermy piece that it was. On the bottom shelf was a large red-colored rooster and hen, both turned inwards toward each other with their wings splayed out for a powerful stance, despite being mere chickens.

The room suddenly shook with some unseen cause and I threw both of my hands out to my sides to steady myself. A book or two on one of the nearest symmetrical stacks toppled to the floor, and one fell open to a page in the center of the dusty volume. I moved away from Wong where he still stood motionless by the wall and I hurriedly picked the book up, kicking myself for the perfectionist within me.

"Don't look into the books." Wong ordered as I peered curiously into the open page of the book I held. I hurriedly snapped the covers closed and replaced the book on the stack that it had fallen from.

"Wong, what exactly are you doing? Don't you feel that earthquake going on?" I asked him worriedly as I wandered back over to his side, stepping carefully so I wouldn't lose my balance on the trembling ground. Wong's eyes were still closed and I noticed that he had moved his hands to the blank section of wall before him.

Plaster from the wall began to trickle down from the ceiling and I cringed as a cracking sounded emanated from seemingly all around me. Wong still stood calmly against the wall as if he hadn't even noticed the room about to cave in and I chanced another glance at the sorcerer fearfully.

"Is this the tricky part that you were talking about? I sure hope this is your doing!" I exclaimed over the now deafening sounds of cracking walls and floor. The rumbles of the very earth beneath our feet threatened to give and I conjured up some glowing discs beneath my feet to stabilize myself so that I hovered just barely an inch above the floor. "Cuz if it's not…"

"It's not my doing." Wong replied quietly. I moved even closer to him, glancing around the small library in a sudden panic.

"Then what – ?!" I was interrupted in my exclamation of confusion when I suddenly heard Thanos' voice echo distortedly through the Mirror Dimension.

_"NO!" _

I whirled back around to Wong with his palms still pressed against the wall in front of him. The man still didn't seem to have heard or felt any of the effects of the earthquake or the presence of the Mad Titan.

"Wong, he's _here!_ I thought you had alarms to warn you if he broke through?!"

"He hasn't broken through yet. He is still upstairs fighting with Captain America, Thor and King T'Challa." Wong said simply. My eyes were wild as I scanned the entirety of the library around us. Another slam caused a huge tremor to nearly knock one of the shelves by the wall to fall.

"If all this is being caused by him, then I think you're freaking lying to me." I muttered seriously. I flicked my mandala shields to life over my fists, feeling only slightly relieved by the reassuring glow that they cast over me.

"Give me the Time Stone." Wong said suddenly. I turned around to see that he still hadn't moved by his place against the wall.

"What? Now?" I stammered confusedly. The man nodded once, his eyes still closed. I removed my right shield from my fist and then hesitantly reached for the necklace in my pocket.

_"DON'T DO THIS…YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND…!" _

When my hand reached my pocket, I stumbled slightly even standing in midair as Thanos' voice shook the small library once more. I heard thundering footsteps from behind us where the entrance to the room was and I looked back up to Wong again in a panic.

_"Wong?!" _

Without retrieving the Time Stone from my pocket, I grabbed onto the man's shoulders to somehow get to him wake up from his deep meditation and realize what was happening around us. As my palm met the sorcerer's shoulder, my hand fell through him and his image evaporated in a cloud of golden dust. I nearly fell into the wall where Wong had been just seconds before and I whirled around as I heard the sound of a door closing.

_"What the hell!?"_ I shouted, dashing across the room past the numerous shelves and stacks of books as I tried to return to the entrance of the enchanted room.

"Alexander…as Strange wished…you will be the last defense between Thanos and the Time Stone." Wong's voice drifted to me from the other side of the blinding brightness. I pounded my fist against the wood of the unseen door, squinting as the light pulsed when Wong enforced some sort of lock into it.

"Wong, you can't do this! I have to help you fight him! I can't just sit in here!" I called after him angrily.

"You will have your chance." Wong's voice said from far away as if he were walking away from the door. "Just as the Avengers are almost finished with theirs."

That last comment left me with a cold chill as I realized that Wong had locked me in the room. I reached for the Time Stone where it still remained in the pocket of my robes and then hesitated as I caught sight of my hand on its way to retrieve it. My heart skipped a beat as I raised my other hand to examine it as well.

My Sling Ring was still on Peter's hand from the short time I had switched bodies with him, leaving my own body with no Sling Ring of its own. That meant that I literally had no escape from the small and creepy library or a hope at escaping the Mirror Dimension at all.


	25. Skulls and Books

I was fuming. I had no idea what was happening with the battle against Thanos, no idea why Wong thought it was a good idea to keep me here babysitting the Time Stone while he and the others put their lives on the line to delay the inevitable, and absolutely no other feelings in my body aside from guilt and rage. On the bright side, however, the earthquake from earlier had seemed to cease for the most part. I could still hear Thanos' angered protests, but as to the whereabouts of any of the Avengers or Wong, I heard nothing for several long minutes. Knowing that it most likely wouldn't work, I raised both of my hands to attempt taking down the summoned Mirror Dimension. Having been able to conjure the entrance up so easily before in the kitchen with Wong, I assumed that removing the spell should be the same. But of course, Wong had thought way ahead of me and had locked the presence of the Mirror Dimension away from me, leaving me unable to get away from the blindingly twinkling lights that floated in midair and distorting the reality. I paced the small path from one wall of the hidden library to the other, murmuring in a mad craze.

"I didn't ask for this…I said that _several_ times…" I said with one hand pressed firmly against my forehead. I ran my fingers through my unkempt curls and felt the dull pain in my shoulder burn with the frazzled movement. "Now my best friend is _dead_ and so are probably the whole rest of the Avengers…"

I felt my chest grow tighter and tighter as my anxiety continued to work on overload. My voice broke off into a sob that I clenched my fists against. I stopped for a brief moment and closed my eyes, centering myself so that the tears would not come despite the overwhelming sense of entrapment that had settled over me. When I opened my eyes again, I scrambled frantically towards the nearest shelf searchingly.

"There has to be a Sling Ring in here…_surely_…" I begged quietly, fumbling along each shelf in pursuit of even an ancient-looking Ring that would help me to be able to conjure myself out of the small library. I shoved books and knick-knacks aside, carefully but quickly so as to not accidentally unleash some terrible forbidden magic from the objects concealed in this secret room. Being in the Mirror Dimension where I couldn't exactly affect the outside world only slightly diminished my worry that I would blow something up, but I was still very much against pointlessly killing myself before I had another shot at Thanos. I opened drawers and compartments for several exasperating moments, getting more and more panicky as the clock ticked onward with no sign of the Sling Ring I was searching for.

The one thing that caused me to halt my search was an odd-looking glowing sphere held up by a thin, metal stand. Upon closer examination, I found a tiny pack of wolves running along an orbiting wire that magically circled around what was supposed to be a glowing miniature full moon. I leaned closer to peer down at the tiny wolf pack as they rounded back to the side of the sphere where I stood. The wolves' tiny snarls suddenly grew louder the closer they ran to me and I could see the miniature muscles of their legs pumping as they noticed me standing over them and they began rushing to try and confront me.

"Oh my God, they're real!" I exclaimed under my breath, stepping back hesitantly in slight amazement. A second later, the pack's leader halted on the metal equator and I could see the glint of its tiny eyes as it glared up at me demandingly. It snarled loudly and the pack behind it moved and shifted defensively around the leader. Curious, I slowly reached my hand closer to the surface of the glowing sphere, watching as the pack immediately leapt into action, running for my taunting fingers. I jerked my hand back to my body at the last second, smirking as the tiny wolf pack slid to a stop on the smooth metal wire circling the sphere. The leader barked up to me in what I assume it thought to be a threatening way, but the tiny sound that emanated from its miniscule muzzle didn't even make it to the sound level of a Chihuahua's yapping. The others of the pack began to take up their leader's protests and I scoffed at even the idea of why Doctor Strange would've stored the glowing sphere in this secret library.

That was when I noticed the small clasp near the south pole of the globe. I squinted thoughtfully and then something in my mind clicked as I realized that the glowing moon was actually a container of sorts. Unthinkingly, I reached directly for the clasp with the intention of opening the globe to examine its contents to resume my search for a Sling Ring or other way out of the hidden room. Before my hand could meet the surface of the globe however, I felt a sharp stab of pain like numerous pinpricks striking at my wrist. I jerked my hand back in surprise and could see that the mini wolf pack had made their way hurriedly to where they knew I was reaching.

"Ah…" I breathed thoughtfully, wiping at the small dots of blood that had risen to the surface of my skin from the tiny wolf bites. "So that's why you guys are here. You're guarding something."

I studied the threatening wolf pack where they had gathered near the clasp, wondering if it was really worth trying to fight against them to reach whatever was hidden inside of the glowing moon. I stared at the tiny wolves for a long moment until I noticed that the pack was starting to get a little restless and then my hand shot forward like lightning toward the clasp once more.

I felt tiny pinpricks stab into my palm and my fingers closed over the nearest wolf on the globe beneath my hand. I heard its small growls emanating from my fist as it found that it was suddenly unable to move and I raised my hand up and away from the globe, feeling the wolf's small paws and body as it tried to wriggle free from my palm. I slowly opened my palm to reveal the tiny wolf, realizing that the poor animal had to be less than an inch in size. Large enough to cause a potential thief irritation and probably eventual disinterest in the reason they may attempt to get into the globe's lockbox, but also small enough to be unable to do much damage alone. The tiny wolf nipped at my fingers as I curled them back towards my palm and before it could lunge forward to bury its needle-like teeth into the meat of my fingers, I hurriedly placed my hand back towards the glowing sphere. I watched curiously as the tiny wolf leapt back for its rightful place, throwing a fearful look over its shoulder before rushing back to the rest of his miniature pack.

I stood back up straight, noticing that the whole pack of tiny wolves watched me distrustfully. I then conjured up a tiny ball of golden energy, watching as the mandala symbols hovered in a bubble around my fist. I carefully reached for the clasp again, hearing the mini barks and protests from the wolves as they rebounded off of my shielded fist. My fingers locked onto the small metal clasp and I flicked it open effortlessly, lifting the top of the globe off slowly. The wolves backed up hesitantly as their ground shifted beneath their tiny paws, but they remained on the surface of the globe by the small bit of gravity tying them to the globe.

I opened the miniature moon to reveal a single luminescent bar, realizing that this object was what gave the moon its glow. I stared at it for a moment, finally deciding not to touch it as my mind instantly compared it to the radioactive glow sticks from many of the science fiction movies Dan and I had watched over the years. I slowly lowered the top of the globe and flipped the clasp closed, stepping back from the glowing moon as the wolves congregated around the clasp once more.

The fractals of light that existed in the Mirror Dimension twinkled brightly as if trying to taunt me and my failing search. I then resumed walking through the exhibited objects and artifacts and checking for secret hatches and lockboxes to no avail. Frustrated that I was seemingly forced to give up my hope of finding my own way out of the concealed library, I ran back across the room and aimed another furious kick at the blindingly bright entrance. The light from the door seemed to grow even brighter as my slippered foot collided with its unseen wood and I watched the light dull back to its former brightness as the sting in my foot ebbed away from the kick.

"You leave me here as the last defense…how exactly did you factor that into our favor?!" I shouted at the door, knowing for a fact that no one could hear me through the Mirror Dimension.

I squeezed my right hand into a tight fist and flicked my wrist downward, conjuring up my golden mandala shield over it, making sure to add the sharp dagger-like point at the end of it. I pulled back and slammed my protected fist against the door, unsurprisingly to no effect. Angrily, I repeated the strikes a few more times and whirled around to the nearest bookcase. The few ancient looking books that had rested on that shelf for decades covered in dust all at once flew from their places on the shelf and collided with other stacks and shelves, littering the once-neat secret library with clumps of dust and scattered books. I kicked at the nearest book where it had landed facedown by my foot and watched as a dim purple glow puffed up from its pages before the cover slammed itself shut again. I blinked away the surprise and slight worry from the unexpected magic that had almost been released and then resumed my rampage against the sparkling entrance to the room.

After several moments of conjuring up weapons and shields and bashing against the doorway, I stepped away huffing and breathless as my anger peaked. I reached my hand into the pocket of my robes and produced the Eye pendant that housed the Time Stone, glaring down at it furiously.

"Lotta fun we've had, huh?" I said to the necklace sarcastically. I clenched the bronze Eye tightly within my palm, watching as Doctor Strange's cheaply conjured decoy of a necklace seemed to warp just slightly under my anger-induced strength.

_"__I wouldn't do that if I were you…"_

I jumped as a feminine voice spoke up from across the room. I whirled around, still squeezing the pendant in my fist while my hand throbbed from the tightness with which I held the Stone. I didn't respond to the voice, knowing that the only magical artifacts that Wong had acknowledged in this room had been dangerous ones that I probably shouldn't try to mess with. I continued to stand frozen from my stance by the glowing door, listening for the voice again. When nothing happened for several long seconds, I glanced back down at the Eye in my hand, noticing that my whole fist had turned white from the reflexive amount of strength I still used to grip the bronze Eye.

_"__My, you're an edgy one, aren't you?" _The voice spoke up again. I lowered my fist to my side, easing up my death grip on the pendant only a tiny bit.

"What would you know about that? What do you want?" I asked sharply, staying still where I stood and letting my gaze scan the small library suspiciously. I slowly started to move forward, glancing quickly over at each stack of books and straggling cabinets as I cautiously made my way on my worn path through the room.

_"__To help."_ The voice said simply. I rolled my eyes as I could almost hear the woman's shrug in her response.

"Right." I said sarcastically, choosing to ignore the voice like I'd originally planned. I lifted the Time Stone to my chest and clasped it between both of my hands as I continued pacing the room and gazing quizzically at each of the items adjoining my path. "I'm pretty sure I shouldn't believe that. I've kinda had enough of listening to disembodied voices, thanks."

_"__Perhaps I would have a body if you'd let me out of this glass prison." _The voice retorted smartly.

My eyes widened only slightly in realization and I turned back to where I knew Wong had been standing earlier over the Enchantress' skull. I tried to keep my voice even and disinterested as I chanced another reply.

"You're uh…Karen Vanilla, then?" I asked, clearly getting the name wrong on purpose to see what the skull's response would be. If the voice turned instantly hostile, I would know that I should immediately not go any further into conversation with it. I was not at all expecting the light giggle that I received.

_"…__Sure. Such insight you have to guess my full name on your first try." _She said jokingly. I inched closer towards the display case, seeing only the back of the ancient-looking skull and the flecks of black that swam randomly over its surface. I titled my head to the side, keeping my gaze trained on the glass box, fearing that something would happen if I didn't.

"Okay, Karnilla. Why are you suddenly so eager to help?" I asked skeptically. I frowned at the back of the skull hesitantly. "…Do you even know about what's going on?"

_"__Of course I do. Your friend Wong just relayed everything to me."_

"Did he?" I repeated, warning bells sounding in the back of my mind. I stopped just a few feet from the back of the display case, not wanting to peek around to feed my curiosity but still intrigued enough to keep the conversation going since it looked like it would be a while before I would have my chance against Thanos.

_"__You saw our conversation, I'm sure. Very one-sided if you ask me. That Wong is a rude one, you know. Never lets me get a word in edge-wise."_

"Do you…talk often?" I asked her awkwardly, looking around at the small library for anything else that may or may not possess the ability to talk. "Surely you've got some other magical objects in here that keep you company?"

_"__No. That Doctor Strange has kept me locked up nice and snug for the past few years with nothing and no one else to talk to…" _Karnilla answered slowly with a sigh.

"That's too bad…" I said absently, once more pocketing the Time Stone for safe keeping in my robes as I paced the small space behind the display case.

_"__You don't care, do you?"_ Karnilla's voice said accusingly after a moment of silence. I turned back towards the case and could see that the pulsing glow of black on the skull had stopped in the direct center of the back of the magical relic.

"Uh…like I said before…I've kinda been struggling with my trust issues here over the past few days…" I admitted lightly, rubbing my mess of curls off of my forehead.

_"__That's fair."_ She responded quietly. I rocked back and forth on my heels impatiently, glancing towards the glowing entrance of the secret library and desiring to be using what little bit of magical talents I had to do something to aid in preventing Thanos from achieving his goal.

"Yeah…um…well, I'm sorry to leave you just chilling there…but I really need to find a way out of here and it's not helping me in any way whatsoever to be your chatty buddy…" I said as I edged around the case and towards the glowing entrance that Wong had previously led me through. I glanced at the skull for only a brief second as I moved past it and noticed that the pulsing black glow followed my movement around the side of the display case.

_"__I can help you find a way out of here…"_ Karnilla's voice turned hopeful. I closed my eyes and sighed heavily.

"Of course you can." I said under my breath. I paused on my return to the doorway but didn't turn around as I opened my eyes. "Let me guess…I have to let you out, right?"

_"__Well…yes. Isn't that always the deal in these situations?"_ Her voice laughed knowingly.

"Seems to be." I mumbled lightly. I placed a hand over my pocket to ensure that the Time Stone still remained there and slowly turned back around towards the glass display case. I kept my gaze trained on the taxidermy animals along the opposite wall as I relented to entertain the Enchantress' idea of her release. "Alright…what makes you think I'll trust you enough to let you out?"

_"__You don't know that you can trust me at all…that's the game."_ She said tauntingly. From the bottom corner of my vision, I could see that the dark spot had spread along the skull's teeth into a haunting sneer-like expression. I blinked before my eyes could be pulled fully in that direction to get a better look at Karnilla's skull and I heard her ghostly laugh from all around me.

"Stop." I said evenly, forcing my eyes to stay closed. Her laugh drifted away after another few seconds but the vision of the eerie smile I had seen on the skull stayed embedded on the backs of my eyelids. I pressed both of my palms into my eyes and cringed as I heard her taunting whisper.

_"__Look, we're short on time, I'm told. You lost a friend, yes? Surely you don't want to make him die in vain…" _She pressed on eagerly. I shook my head and removed my hands from my eyes, finally opening them again to stare blankly at the wall with the shelves.

"How 'bout no? You'll play nice until I finally let you out and then you'll put on some magical light show and reincarnate or something and then you'll side with Thanos and try to take over the world. Nice try." I said crossly, starting up my pacing once more. Karnilla's voice laughed chidingly but I ignored it as I rounded one of the symmetrical stacks of books.

"WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS _HE?!_"

Thanos' voice wasn't shouting, but it still rumbled throughout the room for the first time in several minutes and I paused with my arms straddling the stack of books nearest me so that they wouldn't topple over. I looked up at the ceiling above me for the area that the villain's voice had emanated from and prepared for the earthquake to return. When it didn't, I relaxed a bit and threw my glance back towards Karnilla's skull which I could now see in profile. The black glow hovered lazily down from the jawbone and up to the temple of the skull and I could distantly hear her unaffected hum coming from the display case.

That was when I felt the burn of the Time Stone in my pocket. It started as the usual powerful radiance that I had encountered before, but then it steadily grew white hot like an iron rising to full power.

_"__Ow!"_ I exclaimed, fumbling to reach for the pocket and retrieve the pendant. As soon as my fingers reached into the pocket and grazed the chain that the Time Stone was attached to, I jerked my hand away again from the intense burn.

_"__You seem to be having some trouble with controlling your Infinity Stone, dear."_ Karnilla's voice drifted over to me quietly. I rolled my eyes in aggravation as I danced frantically from one foot to the other, not being able to get the Time Stone off of my person and cringing as the burn slowly crept its way through the fabric of my robes.

"Shut up…" I said forcefully to her, reaching once more for my pocket. "Are you doing this?!"

_"__How could I have anything to do with that little old thing? I've been stuck in this glass prison for almost two years unable to cast my wonderful influences anywhere but in here." _She protested lightly. I threw another disbelieving glance at the case, catching the black glow on the skull where it flickered in a small circle on the side of the jawbone.

Wincing as I felt the white-hot pendant burning through my robes with the Eye nearly touching the skin by my side, I threw my hand into the pocket and somehow managed to wrap my fingers around the pendant. I immediately shouted out a curse and yanked the Stone from my pocket, flinging the necklace into the shelf to my right. There was the tinkle of metal striking dull wood and I waved my hand frantically in the air as my palm seared with the pain from the burn.

_"__You need to be more careful, boy."_ Karnilla's voice warned threateningly. I clasped my other hand around the wrist of my throbbing palm wincing as I quickly glanced to where the necklace had landed on the polished wood floor next to one of the shelves housing the taxidermy animals. _"Magic has a way of choosing its own ways of defense when it feels threatened..."_

"What are you talking about?!" I exclaimed, squinting down at the pendant where it was clearly glowing with a dull green essence. The wood around the bronze Eye grew to a charred black color in a small circle directly around it and a few tendrils of smoke rose up from the burning floor.

"I WILL FIND IT…THERE IS NO STOPPING WHAT I HAVE SET IN MOTION."

I heard Thanos' eerily calm voice break through the Mirror Dimension, with a few diminishing shouts from whomever else still remained upstairs fighting against him. I clenched my burnt palm into a fist, ignoring the pain that radiated from the already-present blisters there. I quickly moved over the Eye where it rested on the ground, the wood floor glowing beneath its heat. I positioned my hands above it, somehow barely managing to center myself enough to perform the unlocking process of the Eye. I watched as the bronze pieces twisted with a small metallic click, and barely had time to register that the glowing green bracelet formed over my wrist before a beam of green light shot straight out from the center of the pendant. I dove downwards, hearing the deafening sound of the splintering wood and ceiling above me where the energy blast had struck. I curled myself into a ball just beside of the open Time Stone, my golden mandalas hovering over my head. After a moment, I realized that the ceiling had not caved in like I'd expected it to.

"What – ?" I muttered as I stood back up from my hunched position on the floor. I glanced up towards the ceiling where the green blast of energy had hit, and noticed just a charring of black in the wood of the ceiling as if it had been painted that way. Upon further examination, the wood did look slightly warped from the scorching energy, but not at all close to the amount of damage that the Time Stone should have done. I looked hastily back down to the necklace where it still lay on the ground and watched as the pendant slowly closed automatically before my eyes, the green glow ebbing away as quickly as it had built up. "Right…things happen differently here."

_"__Interesting, isn't it?"_ Karnilla's voice spoke up for the first time in several moments. I didn't look back in the direction of her display case as I inched closer to where the necklace still lay on the ground, and I carefully tapped at the surface of the pendant to test and see if the burn had diminished as well.

"What did you do?!" I called over my shoulder to her accusingly. Finding the pendant greatly cooler than it had been seconds before, I hesitantly lifted it to my uninjured palm and stood back up.

_"__I did nothing."_ The skull's feminine voice said serenely.

"I don't believe you." I said stiffly, turning the Eye around and around in my hands as I examined it. "I don't like you, I don't trust you and I am _not_ letting you out of that box."

_"__You will."_ She said simply, though surprisingly not in a threatening way. I glanced over the Eye and to the skull where the black glow slowly crept around to the other side of the case.

"What would you do if I _didn't_ let you out?" I asked her testily, looking back down at the pendant skeptically.

_"__Nothing."_ She replied simply. _"The Stone was communicating, probably with its sisters upstairs. Besides…what exactly can I do trapped in a display case?"_

"Good point. Just making sure." I said lightly, still playing like the dumb teenager she presumably thought I was.

"YOU THINK DELAYING ME WILL CHANGE YOUR FATE? THIS UNIVERSE IS NOT AS PERFECT AS YOU BELIEVE…" Thanos' calm but clearly heard threats reverberated throughout the small library, warped by the barrier of the Mirror Dimension.

_"__He's got some possession issues, doesn't he?"_ Karnilla commented casually. I whirled on the display case and noticed that the small bit of black glow that had disappeared from my view only moments ago, had returned, inching around the back of the skull curiously as if to see my reaction. I tapped my foot impatiently and wrung my hands as I turned to face the back wall where the shelves of taxidermy animals were placed.

"Okay…so…I don't know what to do…" I muttered to myself under my breath in a whisper, trying to ignore Karnilla's seemingly casual input. I stepped over a fallen book, taking care not to accidentally flip it over in case some random and destructive spell exploded outward from the open pages.

_"__That's clearly evident."_

"Would you be quiet and let me think, please…?!" I threw over my shoulder to the display case where I knew Karnilla watched me eagerly. She seemed to follow my snide pleading and fell into a moment of observant silence as I made my way slowly towards the opposite side of the library. I found myself ignoring her as I listened for any other signs of Thanos or the defending heroes, hearing only a low rumbling from somewhere on the second floor above me. That hopefully meant that Thanos was still preoccupied with the remaining Avengers up in the hallway and hadn't made his way to Groot, Natasha and Bruce where the opening of the Mirror Dimension lay.

_"__If the door is still open to you, that is."_

I froze misstep and paused at the blank wall where the illusion of Wong had stood several minutes ago between the two shelves of animals. An icy chill ran directly down my spine and I kept my hands clenched into fists to still them from the shiver that ran through me at her knowing comment.

"Get out of my head, Karnilla." I hissed, forcing myself not to turn around. She grew obediently quiet once more, and I sensed that her lighthearted demeanor had changed into something else. I found myself continuing to stare at the wall between the shelves, something mentally pulling me there.

_"…__Third Eye."_ Karnilla whispered faintly from across the room. I blinked at the fraction of her comment that I had been able to hear and slowly reached for the necklace still in my pocket.

"A third eye?" I repeated under my breath, glancing down to look at the pendant as I wound the chain loosely through my fingers. I could hear Karnilla's frustrated sigh from behind me and I turned back in that direction, where I could see the black glow pulsing on the back of the skull in the glass case.

_"__No, not that one."_ She said, slightly agitated. _"Think of what that Doctor Strange has given you."_

I frowned at the display case across the room as I slowly pushed the necklace back into the pocket of my robes. I tried to hide the fact that the few abilities and thoughts I had been bestowed with upon Strange's abduction had proven only slightly useful over the course of the past few days, mainly leaving me with more questions than even Wong had been able to make sense of.

_"__He's given you a part of himself. A link between the two of you. All sorcerers across space and time have been able to do the same. It's rather odd why he thought that you would be a likely candidate for him, however, but that's no matter of importance now, I suppose."_ She said, her voice drifting over to me lazily yet urgently.

"You're telling me information that I've already figured out. But he's dead now, so that link is broken…" I said, shaking my head and crossing my arms across my chest. The dull pain in my shoulder stung for a moment but I ignored it. "We had a few chats before, but he decided to keep things from me and in the end didn't really help me out at all."

_"__He was still new at the game. I can't really chide him for his inexperience."_ Karnilla said with an invisible smirk. I stared blankly at the back of the skull where the black glow rested, and I knew that she was studying me carefully. _"But that magical link is__** far**__ from broken. Even by his demise."_

"Alright…" I hesitantly complied with her. "Then you're saying that I should know my own way out of here because his memories and experiences will make me subconsciously know?"

_"__Not exactly, but close."_ The Enchantress said softly. _"You need to focus tremendously on tapping into whatever abilities he left you with and the quickest way to find an escape from here will be attempting to open your Third Eye."_

"I don't want a Third Eye." I said hesitantly, imagining that a literal eye would appear from my forehead. I raised my hand to the space above my eyebrows and beneath my mass of unruly hair falling into my sweat-stained face. The black glow swirled on the back of the skull, clearly irritated.

_"__Look kid…I'm trying to help you. You're just not catching on to what I'm trying to tell you to do…"_

"No, _you_ look…" I retorted smartly, lowering my arm back to my side. "I've told you that I don't trust you, so why do I need to follow what you tell me to do? You could be putting me in even more danger, whether I get you out of that box or not. People like you do that for laughs, I'm not falling for it!"

There was a sudden chill in the atmosphere and a tiny spark of red winked in the midst of the dark glow resting unmoving on the back of the skull. I knit my eyebrows together in confusion as the spark ignited a few more times again, and I took a step back as the black glow spread around the skull, almost forming into a cloud that hovered in the display case like a poisonous vapor.

"I take it that means you're mad?" I chanced when the skull was almost completely obscured from my view. The black glow took up nearly the entirety of the glass box, sparks of tiny flames winking in and out of existence in the inky darkness. Karnilla's voice remained silent which I took as an affirmative answer to my question.

I whirled around as a low rumble shook the shelves on either side of me, the earthquakes starting back up all at once. Thanos' voice made no snide comment like before but I got the funny sensation that he had neared the end of his confrontation with the Avengers upstairs. The symmetrical stacks of books that towered throughout the room wobbled and fell to the ground, causing me to reflexively conjure up my mandala shields when small explosions and bursts of energy shot from the overturned books nearest to me.

When the worst of the spontaneous blasts had ceased for a moment, I lowered one of my shields and waved my hand over the open books, watching in relief as they closed upon my influence. I lowered my other golden shield as well, the trembling of the earth beneath my feet causing me brace my legs a good width apart so that I wouldn't lose my balance. I raised both my hands palm upwards, and gestured for the books to float together to one corner of the room between two of the largest bookshelves. The books glowed slightly with my conjured energy and I forced myself to focus solely on keeping each of the ancient, powerful texts level so that the pages wouldn't accidentally release the magic kept contained inside them.

Once they'd all congregated in the spot I had moved them to, I motioned for the books to stack in adjoining towers filling in the small space between the large bookshelves. When the books seemed to be all safely secured amidst the shaking floor and walls, I flicked both of my wrists forward and sealed the perimeter of the bookshelves with a protective golden shield, making sure that the outrageously powerful books wouldn't be apt to topple over and level what remained of the Sanctum.

My knees nearly gave out beneath me, both from the trembling of the small room around me and from the enormous amount of energy I had used to relocate the hundreds of ancient books. I caught myself before I could fall, and I turned curiously back in the direction of Karnilla's glass display case. Finding that the inky dark cloud still swirled around the skull in the small space, I raised an eyebrow sarcastically and then shook my head as I tore my gaze away once more and looked towards the wall where the taxidermy animals still somehow remained on their respective shelves.

Just as I was preparing to line the two shelves with a protective screen of golden energy just as I'd done with the bookshelves, I noticed that something about the animals seemed slightly different than they had moments before.

The glassy, once-dead eyes of the animals were moving and blinking wildly.

I froze as I watched first as the black cat gave a sudden shiver and leapt down from its spot on the shelf, yowling as it tried to stabilize itself on the lurching floor, followed by the iguana which clung tightly to the edge of the polished shelf on its venture down to the floor, its long tail flicking behind it. I stepped back as the two chickens on the bottom shelf clucked fearfully and flapped themselves across the room wildly, terrified beyond belief. I then looked up worriedly at the large horsehead that was mounted into the back of the shelf, surprised that, despite being just a head, it too seemed to have come to life. It whinnied fearfully and threw its massive nose from one side to the other as if trying to pull itself free, its long mane swishing every which way as the poor animal fought to escape as well. My heart leapt into my throat as I suddenly remembered the remaining animal that had formerly been placed on the top of one of the shelves.

_"__Behind you, dear."_

I whirled around as Karnilla's voice spoke up for the first time in several minutes, to warn me of the giant tarantula crawling its way over to me from an unexpected direction. I summoned up my golden mandala shield and swatted towards it when it reared up defensively upon realizing it had lost the element of surprise on me, its intended prey.

"This is insane!" I exclaimed as I darted forward with my shield, shooting a blast of energy that caused the huge spider to thankfully scamper away in irritation. Before I could relax from the tarantula's retreat, there was a crack of splintering wood from behind me and I was shoved to the ground by a violent force. I rolled quickly out of the way when I heard thundering hoof beats on the polished wooden floor, curling myself into a protective ball beneath my shield. I watched in disbelief as four huge horse's hooves galloped around me once before rushing away towards the entrance of the library.

I rolled back to my feet hurriedly, watching in amazement and fearful wonder as the complete form of a horse, body and all, skidded by me wildly on the polished wooden floor. I glanced only momentarily back towards the now empty shelves, seeing a gigantic hole from where the horse's body had exploded from the wall. I then rushed after the horse with the intention of calming the beast before it could knock over any valuable or dangerous books or artifacts throughout the room. I threw myself after a wobbling stand that held up a small pedestal with a moldy-looking globe resting on top of it. The horse's tail whacked me in the face as I tried to still the pedestal and then I hurried to follow after the panicking animal before it could overturn the glowing sphere that housed the tiny pack of wolves.

The horse reared up as it reached the blindingly bright entrance to the library upon finding that there was no escape from the stifling room it was trapped in. I watched fearfully as the massive animal's hooves pounded at the twinkling air before slamming downward, adding to the ground's shaking. There was a shrill mewling from directly behind me and I turned to find the black cat poking its head out from beneath Karnilla's display case. I caught my gaze rising up from the legs of the case and up to the dark cloudy space that still swam inside of the glass.

_"__Finally!" _Karnilla's voice exclaimed breathlessly. The black glow that had covered the interior of the case instantly melted away to reveal the face of the ancient looking skull. I tried to pull my gaze away but found that I was suddenly unable to move, frozen to the spot as a musical laugh rang from inside my head.

The skull's dark eye sockets seemed to bore through my own and I felt my mouth open in slow motion to proclaim my shout of horror as the black glow poured like water-falling tears from the gaping sockets. The darkness spread along to skull's perfect teeth in that wicked grin once more, and seeing it fully before my eyes was infinitely worse than it had been when I had seen it merely from the corner of my vision before.

_"__You're going to release me, Alexander. You know it's going to happen either way…" _Karnilla's voice echoed from inside my own mind. I blinked slowly, my eyelids heavy and my whole body suddenly felt weighted down from the stress and weariness that had been pushed aside and replaced with the adrenaline I needed to survive the last few days.

"Released…either way…" I repeated, clearly under whatever control she had placed over me.

_"__Yes…"_ Her voice hissed eagerly. The library around me melted away into nothingness as my gaze remained frozen on the skull waiting patiently before me. I slowly saw my right hand reach up longingly towards the display case and my eyes widened in disbelief as I realized what I was doing without being in my own control. I internally tried to shake myself out of the daze that Karnilla had obviously placed upon me, but I kept moving forward despite my struggles.

"Stop…" I muttered angrily, anger rising in me at not being able to fight the Enchantress' spell, even through the glass of the display case. As I stared unwillingly at the skull, I could see the odd sparking flames where they flickered deep within the dark eye sockets. My hand was nearly an inch away from the side of the case by this point and i could feel my chest clenching in anticipation for what would happen next.

_"__Don't fight me, Alexander…it's pointless…"_ Karnilla said to me lightly when I managed to make my hand hesitate just over the glass. I allowed myself to finally give in to her hold and I felt the slightest of changes in the hold over me as she realized that I had relented out of my weariness.

"No-" I said suddenly, leaping backwards and holding up my golden mandala shield between me and the display case. "You're not going to–"

The skull's eyes were entirely made of flames over the mandala I held and I could visibly see Karnilla's fury radiating throughout the small display case. As I stood my ground against her glaring skull, I was completely unaware when the panicking horse galloped once more in my direction with the latest earth tremor.

My golden shield fell instantly as the giant animal collided into my back, and as I fell to the ground in surprise, I felt the horse's hooves graze my already injured shoulder upon its passing. I heard it make its way in a zigzagging path across the room as it continued looking for a way out of the chaos going on in the room. I clutched at my newly-bleeding shoulder, uttering a curse word or two as I forced myself to roll over when I heard a crash ring out from somewhere closer to the shelves along the back wall.

"Stop!" I cried out, reaching my blood-stained hand towards the wild animal. I flipped my palm in a spiral, for the moment forgetting that I still didn't have a Sling Ring to portal the horse out of danger. I noticed that the large globe that housed the miniature wolves had been knocked over, and I could barely see the tiny paperclip-sized animals running wildly to escape the larger animals scattered about the room. The slow-moving iguana was the closest to the tiny wolves and I could see the large reptile leering down at them suspiciously before the black cat dove after one of them, thinking it was a mouse. The poor chickens were flocked together, their wings beating at the twinkling lights in the air as they clucked and shrieked in fear at the uproar occurring within the library.

I pulled myself up hurriedly, pressing my hand against my forehead as I thought about what to do. Even in the Mirror Dimension the room was getting destroyed, something which Wong had explained to me should not have been able to happen. I suddenly felt an eerie shiver run through me from my ankle and I glanced down to find that the oversized tarantula had found me once again. I kicked at it and shot a blast of golden energy at the terrifying beast in the hopes that it would turn away like it had before. When it reared up into its defense position this time, however, I noticed a small figure shrouded in gobs of web hanging from its underside. In the brief glimpse that I got of the small entrapped bulge, I finally put together that unfortunately the rat that had formerly been housed on one of the shelves along the back wall had fallen victim to the huge spider.

"Alright, since you won't scare off this time…" I said through gritted teeth as I flicked my fist into the golden machete Wong had taught me to conjure. I swung downward forcefully and nearly gagged as the giant tarantula was sliced perfectly down the center of its body, blood and whatever bodily fluids it housed shooting in every which direction, including down the front of my borrowed apprentice robes.

The sound of the crazed horse trampling back across the room followed by the ear-piercing sound of breaking glass forced me back to my senses and my heart hitched as I whirled around to confirm my growing dread.

Karnilla's glass display case had been shattered upon the horse's most recent lap around the library and the dark glowing cloud of her magical influence was rising into the surrounding air and seeming to spread like a poisonous vapor. The skull was nowhere to be found on the ground where the shards of the case had fallen, and for a heartbeat of a moment, the once-taxidermied animals fell silent. The dark cloud slowly settled into a humanoid shape in a long flowing dress and the dim sparks of flames that had previously rested in the skull's eyes sockets now shone from about the halfway point by the slender figure in front of me. As the darkness evaporated and Karnilla's true form was revealed, I noticed that she held the skull in her palm nonchalantly, the dark eye sockets still glowing wickedly. Long, flowing dark hair billowed down her back to what appeared to be her waist, and her dark eyes shone with a clearly irritated but triumphant gleam. She lifted one corner of her bright red lips into a half-smirk before tossing the skull to the ground where it disintegrated to dust at her feet.

"Now, we'll see if you decide to listen to reason."


	26. The Enchantress and the Sorcerer

**Hey Everyone! Once again, I am _so_ sorry that I've been doing a lousy job at uploading here lately but I think it's partly because I'm not quite ready to let this story end yet. I also have been super busy the past few weeks what with church events, keeping up with both jobs and being sick last week and I just wanted to make sure that I had a good amount of content to post. I really hope you've enjoyed this story so far and I'd be really appreciative to know what you have thought of my first Avengers/Doctor Strange fanfic. I will try my best to upload again over the next two weeks or so, I can't promise anything definite I'm afraid though. Thank you for understanding and I'll be looking forward to hearing from some of you! :)**

I slowly lowered the golden machete as I stood up to face the powerful woman that stood across the room from me. Her dark hair flowed slightly in a breeze that shouldn't have been present in the hidden library and as she tilted her head up to regard me with scrutiny, glimmering silver necklaces were exposed through the black veil covering her face. Her elegantly long dress was a deep violet color, and I noticed that she wore silver bracelets on either of her wrists. When she stepped closer to me, matching shining bands were revealed around her thin ankles as well. Clearly the Enchantress adored her jewelry.

"What have you decided, Alexander?" Her taunting voice broke the silence between us after a long suspenseful moment. I raised my golden machete more in a reflexive defense than in an attempt to threaten her. Her blood red lips spread into a wider smirk through her veil and she gestured towards me, causing my weapon to melt away easily like the light show that it appeared to be. I stepped back and drew my hands up into fists to ward her off but she casually flipped her hand to the side again and under her influence, my raised arms were thrown back to my sides as she continued her slow approach.

"What do you mean, 'what've I decided?!' I didn't choose to release you so I don't really think I'm in control here…" I responded as calmly as I could while still trying to retreat backwards from the dangerous looking Asgardian Enchantress.

"Of course you're not in control here, you're just a child." She said through perfectly white teeth that were gritted in agitation. I chanced a glance over her shoulder at the taxidermy horse where it had ceased its rampage around the room to stomp frightfully by the shattered display case. The cat, chickens and iguana were also congregated on the other side of the room together as if waiting to be released from the stifling room.

"…Are _you_ in control?" I asked stupidly as I felt my back press against one of the staggered bookshelves. Karnilla stopped just in front of me and cast her veil aside to reveal her dark eyes that glowed with some ancient fury unknown to me.

"You have no idea, _boy_…" She hissed, clearly wanting to rip me to shreds but for some reason being unable to. "What I've been through…what I've done…what I'm capable of doing…"

I stared at her carefully where she stood, every muscle visibly clenched in her irritation. Her red lips were pulled back into a sneer as she eyed me up and down and I chanced at moving to stand up straight to face her. As I did, she grabbed me by the front of my robes, which were still coated in splashes of gook from the dead spider on the floor. That seemed to anger her even further and she then hurriedly released her hand from my robes to rub the remaining slime off of her hand onto a nearby bookshelf.

"I'm sure you're all-powerful, Miss Enchantress…" I fumbled shakily, trying to swallow against the overwhelming sense of fear that she was trying to invoke in me. "And I'm sure you'd very much like to prove your abilities and dominance, but there's really no need. Call off these earthquakes and bringing objects and animals to life thing, and maybe we can talk about this like decent – uh…people?"

Karnilla's hard expression lightened greatly as I spoke and by the time I was finished she burst into laughter just a few feet from my face. I frowned deeply, afraid to let my guard down as I waited for her to flip back into instant murderess mode.

"You think I had anything to do with that before?" She finally said when her fit of laughter had died down into almost sarcastic giggles. "Oh no. You ought to know that it was the Sanctum itself using this time to try and gets its affairs in order before its imminent destruction."

"The house is doing this?!" I repeated, looking around at the devastation of the library we stood in. Almost the only things still standing in the room were the once taxidermied animals, the shelves they once were placed upon and the tower of magical books that I had bound together in my containment spell that still glowed strongly in the other corner of the room. When I glanced back up at the Enchantress still standing in front of me, her eyes were wide with mocking sincerity as she nodded in confirmation.

"Pretty odd, isn't it? Alexander, darling…let me clarify something to you. The world as you know it is_ not_ the only one that's out there! These artifacts and books did not all come from _your_ Earth. Doctor Strange and the sorcerers that preceded him have collected these mystical objects and have written about the happenings on other worlds and in other dimensions for _centuries._ All of this isn't new to me…but…this Thanos…" Karnilla tore her gaze away from me for a moment and worriedly fingered at one of her many silver necklaces. There was a glint of hesitance in her eyes and she shook herself back to facing me. "He's not the only one who has tried to collect these Infinity Stones."

"He's not? Then…that means that the others were stopped, right? Are you saying there is a chance that we can prevent him from winning?" I asked, daring to be a little hopeful. Karnilla regarded me for a moment in hesitant consideration.

"Not exactly…" She said lowly, her dark eyes searching as she reached a hand up to my face. I drew back from her in surprise, flexing my hands into fists and flashing my mandalas into existence warningly. She narrowed her eyes and shot her gaze down to the shields and up to my face once more. I let my shields fall as I realized that she in return was warning me to stand down. When she moved forward again, I pressed my back further into the shelf unconsciously as she reached for me.

"What are you doing?" I asked her uncertainly as I felt her cool touch on my forehead.

"I'm helping you to open your Third Eye, _boy_…" She hissed in slight irritation. "It's the only way for you to see what's really about to happen…"

Confused, I tried to pull away from the Enchantress standing over me but there was a startling shock of pain that suddenly shot through my forehead beneath her powerful touch. I cried out in a gasp of surprise and squeezed my eyes shut against the closeness of her dark and intense gaze.

"THERE!"

I could suddenly hear Thanos' exclamation from all around me and I allowed my eyes to shoot open as the pain in my head neared exploding. The softly twinkling light of the Mirror Dimension I had been trapped in seemed to crack upon the opening of my eyes and shatter back into the dark real-time dimension of the Sanctum. Karnilla was thrown to the floor away from me when another earthquake shook through the room and I hurriedly leapt away from the bookshelf behind me. I whirled around with a breath of disbelief as I appeared to be able to see my surroundings with a new clarity.

The secret library was nearly destroyed just as it had been in the Mirror Dimension, but the blank wall between the two empty taxidermy shelves was completely opened up like a makeshift doorway. The huge stack of books that I had thought to contain in a golden tower had been dismantled with the powerful earthquake and scattered puffs of light exploded from the few books that fell open. I turned back to the two shelves against the wall, noting that standing just before me where the wall once stood was the sorcerer that had taught me everything I had been able to learn in the past few days.

"Wong?!" I asked slowly in confusion, my eyes still strained as widely as they could go as I surveyed everything uncertainly. Wong didn't move or even acknowledge that I had spoken to him. I noticed that he appeared to be frozen on the spot with his arms outstretched and his fists glowed with his familiar golden shields in what was clearly a defensive pose. He seemed to have his back to me, ready to fight off anything that got near the library I had been locked in. When he still made no movement that he'd noticed the huge hole in the wall that had opened up behind him I moved to walk toward him warily, still using my new sight to scan for anything that seemed off.

"Alexander…stop…" Karnilla's voice spoke up quietly from behind me. I glanced back to see that she had picked herself up from the ground and that the once-taxidermied animals were once again nothing more than the decorative pieces they had originally been, scattered on their sides behind Karnilla. The Enchantress nodded towards me and gestured for me to look back to Wong. "Look closer…"

I tried to do as she said and looked back to where Wong still stood motionless in the gaping hole in the wall, the only real light coming from the shields hovering over his fists. I moved slightly closer and my eyes widened as I suddenly realized that he was facing _towards_ me instead of in the position of _defending_ me like I'd originally thought.

"Wong…what's going on?" I asked quietly as I straightened up and tried to discreetly back away from the sorcerer. Wong said nothing, but I could see an expression of deep anger masked on his face. Ever since Dan and I had been transported to the Sanctum, Wong had always held a serene or sometimes condescending expression, but never one of genuine anger. I frowned as yet another warning bell rang in the back of my mind when I saw a flash of red from somewhere behind the sorcerer.

"Alexander." Wong's voice said lowly and without emotion, a typical observation of what I'd seen in him over the past few days. I watched in hesitation as he slowly spread his arms which dismantled the shields. He then methodically turned his wrists inward and then with a slightly quicker motion, flicked his hands in a wide arc in the space in front of him. I heard a powerful rush of air blast over me and struggled to hold on to my hindsight as I chanced a glance to my side out of curiosity when I noticed movement.

There was nothing at all behind me.

The downed shelves, display cases, ancient artifacts, and even the animals were gone. The whole secret library was nothing but what appeared to be a small spare room, dimly lit and windowless since the room appeared to be somewhere in the very center of the mansion. There was literally nothing in the small spaced room which caused me to wonder what on earth I had been interacting with in whatever illusion the Mirror Dimension had held. As that thought ran through my mind, my heart skipped a beat.

The Enchantress wasn't standing behind me like she had been only seconds before.

I whirled around to see that Wong had moved slowly into the room with me, and I took only a passing glance of the sorcerer's head, noticing that the gaping hole that had previously appeared to have been torn through the wall of the room had transformed into a simple large wooden doorway. I backed away just a step or two, the warning bells still ringing furiously in my head amidst my present confusion.

"Another illusion? Really?" I asked almost sarcastically. When Wong didn't remove his heavy gaze from me, I threw my hands into the air in sudden anger. "You must think I'm an idiot, Wong! To remove me from the _real_ fight to bring me here and lock me up in my own mind…in yet _another_ attempt to train me for the _real_ fight that's been going on out there in the _real_ Sanctum this whole time."

I gestured around at the empty room behind me, even spinning once with my arms spread out dramatically. I finally stopped and stared at Wong who had lowered his arms to his sides though he still seemed stiff with masked emotion as he regarded me carefully. When he still didn't speak, my shoulders fell dejectedly.

"…Is there even a _real_ fight going on out there right now?" I asked, my voice barely above an audible level. Wong lowered his chin in my direction in some sort of reply and I noticed a hint of disappointment in his face.

"Not anymore."

The air behind him rippled with an odd red glow and I caught a brief glimpse of a huge hulking form standing a few yards behind him just inside the doorway. My eyes widened in realization but as quick as the glimpse through the red glow had appeared, the figure had vanished. I straightened as I noticed that Wong had realized I had seen the large alien figure behind him. Instead of whirling around or motioning for me to help him fend off the threat that stood watchfully by the doorway, he seemed intent on reaching me. I took yet another step back as he slowly moved further into the room.

"Give me the Stone, Alexander. You're not fit to protect it."

My confusion still forced me into disbelief as I continued to stare at the sorcerer in front of me. I looked up at the space where I had seen Thanos' slip, wanting to tear my way over to him to wipe that now-invisible smirk off of his purple face. When Wong raised his left arm up toward me I flicked my eyes back to him, leaning away instinctually.

"Alexander." Wong repeated almost threateningly. I frowned at him as I narrowed my eyes, noticing that his other hand was held smartly behind his back. "…the Stone, please."

I tilted my head up towards him knowingly then flicked my gaze over his shoulder once and straight back to the sorcerer's expressionless face before I opened my mouth in a hesitating breath before I answered him.

"Sorry Wong… but I don't think that's the best idea. And I think you agree with me on that." I said gently, watching the man's reaction carefully. When there was no change in his stern expression, I took a shaky breath in preparation for what I knew would happen next and forced myself not to flinch as he lowered his outstretched hand to his side and behind his back to join its partner.

"You're a fool if you think I agree with that, boy. " Wong said sharply, sounding too much like Thanos. I let that go over my head as I clenched my hands into fists and felt the sting of my newly opened shoulder wound. "And like the others…you'll die as one."

I flicked both of my fists up and crossed my arms across my chest, flashing a large golden shield over the front of my body as Wong whirled around with a blast of energy that exploded into sparks of glowing light upon impacting my shield. I knew I had to move away because my shielding technique would not hold off the powerful sorcerer for long. Wong had stepped back in examination of his first surprise attack so I had a millisecond to morph my shield in a ball of golden energy to retaliate.

Before I could do more than shape my spell Wong was gone, leaving a swirling portal in his place that revealed an explosive fire. I stretched the ball of golden energy quickly into a flat sphere that acted as a net to catch the burst of flame that instantly shot through the portal just a few feet in front of me. I struggled to maintain the substance of my conjured spell, cringing as even through the shield I felt the unbearable heat welling up before me. I heard the swish of another portal forming behind me and as I thankfully felt the heat dying down rapidly in front of me signaling the closing of the first portal, I pulled my hands back together and whirled around with the collected energy from the flames to face Wong as he emerged from the most recent gateway.

"Forget something?" I said, opening my arms back up and releasing the built up energy in the sorcerer's direction. The portal's edges contracted and then extended outward transforming the small spare room into an icy tundra, complete with biting winds and chunks of ice littered everywhere. The flames that had exploded outward from my energy net immediately dissipated as the temperature plummeted below zero.

Suddenly wishing that I had the fire back, I curled my fingers into another sphere, exhaling only when a reddish ball of energy formed between my palms. Wong had dodged my retaliated explosive fire as I knew he would, but now he was creating portals left and right to confuse me. I had no idea which one he would emerge from, so I hurriedly reached into the ball of red energy floating before me.

"Wong…_I don't want to fight you!_" I called, shivering in the frigid winds, the feeling in my face already nonexistent. The red energy snaked its way up through my fingers and settled around my wrist, pulsing with built up power. As the most recent portal swished to life right behind me, I whirled around and flicked my hand towards it, seeing Wong distantly on the other side of the golden portal. Wong was taken by surprise and the whip that had exploded from my palm latched onto his left wrist where it was held up for conjuring. The sorcerer looked down angrily at the red glow burning through his forearm before he made a final semicircle with his right hand, dissolving the portal that separated us and cutting straight through my energy whip. The ricochet of my whip snapping back abruptly caused me to stumble through yet another portal that had appeared directly behind me.

I landed on my back in a thicket of grass and thorns, hurrying to scramble back to my feet before Wong could take advantage of my lost footing. Not wishing to return to the freezing temperature of the icy location, I took off in the opposite direction and away from the portal I had fallen through, tripping in an unknown ditch that had been invisible through the thick weeds and grass. The red energy that had been bound on my wrist blinked out of existence as my concentration fell and I tried once more as quietly as I could to gather myself and make it to my feet without drawing attention to my whereabouts in case Wong didn't know which portal I had disappeared through.

"You think you're so lucky?" Wong's voice said as if he had heard my thoughts. Before I could climb to my feet from the mess of greenery surrounding me, the plants around me started rustling unsettlingly. I had a split second to realize what was happening just as the nearby weeds and unkempt grass twisted and tightened around my wrists, forearms and calves.

_"Come on!"_ I shouted angrily, fighting to free myself from the thick and very malleable plantlife entrapping me. I kicked hard, hearing the thankful snap of some of the ropelike weeds and thorns. Before I could try and do the same with my arms however, a fist collided with the side of my head out of nowhere, sending dizzy waves of pain shooting through my body. Through my haze, I looked up in time to see Wong's foot slam forcefully to the ground just inches by my face. Without thinking, I used all of my strength to get my legs all of the way free from the still twisting bonds growing rapidly to hold me. I kicked my legs up over my head, somehow getting a decently powerful blow to Wong's side while also yanking my arms mostly free as I managed to do a somersault against the restraining weeds.

I finally made it back to my feet and crouched to dodge Wong as he swung towards my face with a large golden blade attached to his fist. I shielded myself against a few more frantic swipes from the experienced sorcerer and then conjured up my black staff, useless without fire to power it up, but still a seemingly very solid walking stick. I struck out almost without thinking, surprising myself more than anything as I aimed straight for Wong's knee with the butt of my staff. The man cried out in protest as his damaged knee buckled, sending him to the ground in pain.

"Wong, this isn't you – Thanos is controlling you!" I tried to reason with him, suddenly worrying that I had overreacted in attacking him. Wong glared up at me angrily for a brief second and my slight hopefulness instantly fell away as his glowing fist shot upwards, knocking me back through the weeds for several yards. My conjured staff flew out of my grasp and I heard a hissing whisper as it seemed to vanish from existence without my touch. Not wishing to be caught in the twisting weeds that quickly tried to wind themselves around my limbs again, I clenched my hands into glowing fists and then flicked them outward again, sending everything within a ten-yard vicinity shooting away from me with a powerful energy surge. Wong, who was hit with clumps of dirt, rock and flying greenery swirled another portal into existence and before I could move from my spot the glowing doorway was thrown right at me. I managed to keep my footing as I fell through the portal this time, but I stumbled into what felt like a signpost before my rushing head allowed me to focus on my new surroundings.

The ground below me was wooden and there was a slight sway in gravity as I tried to steady myself. The post I had bumped into appeared to be a worn wooden base for a large brass bell. It rocked quietly as the gravity continued to shift and I finally looked around hurriedly, noticing the presence of moving water all around me. The dock that I stood on was clearly weather-beaten and in need of dire repair, and the water so high that it was seeping through the cracks in the planks beneath my feet. Chunks of the worn dock were missing and as I moved, the wood creaked and splintered audibly with my weight.

I had forgotten about Wong, whom I instantly returned my attention to when he caused the very planks that I stood on to break and send me plummeting downwards through the dock. I cried out as just my feet went through and my knees banged against the splintered wood of the broken planks. The seawater garbled around my thighs and I summoned up a mandala shield before Wong could come down on me with another attack of his golden blade.

_"Stop!"_ I shouted over the rushing sound of the water and the creaking of the dock I was attempting to pull myself out of. Wong stood just in front of me pretending to crack his knuckles as he watched me struggle. "Don't play his game, Wong. You're like his puppet…"

Wong scoffed at me sulkily and then raised his hands which glowed with a humming golden glow. Before I could react, I found that I was slowly being lifted out of the water, my legs burning from the evident cuts and forming bruises that I had sustained when I had fallen through the worn dock. Wong's face was expressionless as I paused in my retaliation with the hopes that he was no longer attacking me.

"If we're comparing puppets, I'd say you are an accurate description of Strange's." Wong's voice said flatly. I felt an icy chill run through me as the words didn't come from the sorcerer's mouth.

"Wong…?" I uttered uncertainly. The man in front of me lowered his upraised hands to his sides, letting me fall back to the dock hard enough to knock the breath out of me.

"The Stone, Alex. We both know how this will end. I trained you, yes, but not enough for you to be better than me." Wong said bitingly. I glared up at him, still waiting for my breath to return to me.

"I'll never be as good as you or Strange. Frankly, I don't want to be…and after all of this…I think I'm going to shun this whole magic thing altogether." I said with venomous sarcasm. Wong frowned down at me in annoyance and raised his left hand where I could see his Sling Ring. Instantly a portal appeared above the dock just behind me and as I hesitantly picked myself up despite being weak and still without breath, Wong kicked me forcefully through it.

"Magic is not easy to forget." Wong said through clenched teeth as I rolled back to my feet to face him as he too came through the portal again. This time we emerged in what appeared to be an old underground train system that had been abandoned and out of use for several decades. The safety lights that blinked in the ceiling of the tunnel cast awful shadows on the grimy walls around us and from the corner of my eye I thought I caught a glimpse of a large shadow shaped familiarly like Thanos' bulky silhouette.

"I'm sure," I said breathlessly, placing my hands on my hips in an attempt to still my rapidly hammering heart and also look as unthreatening as I could. "But it sure takes a hell of a long time to learn!"

With Wong's attention focused on my illusioned theatrics of nonchalance in front of him, he was blind to my approach from behind him where I had masked myself with another illusion of invisibility. I landed one good blow between his shoulder blades with my black staff that I had noiselessly conjured back into my possession. The sorcerer was shoved forward by the force of my attack, but he recovered quickly. By the time I had come up to deliver another blunt strike with the magical staff, Wong had whirled out of my path and raised his arm in a karate chop that I knew I would have no chance at dodging. As I'd feared, Wong had added a little extra strength to his punch and as he hit the pressure point just at the base of my collarbone, I collapsed to the ground at his feet, once more discarding my black staff.

Every muscle in my torso felt like it was screaming as I tried to force myself into movement to dodge the sorcerer's expected next blow. My arm felt like it weighed fifty pounds as I lifted it above myself in an attempt to shield myself just in case. As I managed to conjure up the golden glow, Wong's foot suddenly appeared at my elbow, kicking it forcefully so that I jerked forward and lost my grounding and the half-existent mandala I had summoned.

"What did I tell you?" Wong said gruffly as I was shoved to my hands and knees, still somehow trying to crawl away from the fight. His foot shoved me in the left side of my ribcage and I cried out angrily as he rolled me over to my side. I held up both of my hands in my crouching position as the man stood over me with a literal sword to my throat. Only glowing with a hint of golden magic, the blade looked very real and very sharp.

"You mean about me not being better than you?" I asked sarcastically, still gasping out breaths and keeping my hands at a surrendering motion. Wong's gaze drifted to his hands on the sword he held above me and then he narrowed his eyes, turning them back to me.

"Before that." He said sharply, his voice slightly lower.

_"Look closer…"_ Karnilla's voice whispered in my memory. I blinked heavily through the screaming pain that wracked through my body and I finally noticed a twitch in Wong's left eye. I tilted my head in confused fearfulness as his hand that held the blade closest to me flicked in the hopes of catching my attention as well.

"This…is your last…" Wong's voice rasped lowly, dragging out his cryptic way of speaking. "…warning…"

Wong's grip on the blade shifted again as he moved it closer to me threateningly. I held myself up on my elbows, my shoulder pulsing with the nearly unbearable pain from my still bleeding wound. The fingers of his left hand twitched again and my gaze fell on the large ancient-looking Sling Ring that he wore there.

"My last…" I repeated slowly. Wong's hardened gaze narrowed as he waited for me to continue. I finished my response in a whisper. "…_defense._"

Wong nodded abruptly and suddenly I knew what was going on. He _knew_ that he was under Thanos' influence and the small uncontrolled part of him was reaching out to me in a last effort to help me. As Wong's left hand twitched once more and he prepared to lunge down at me with the magically enhanced blade, I jerked myself upward and shielded the blunt edge of the sword before it could hit me. I kicked towards Wong's fists where the hilt of the blade was firmly in his grasp and then somehow managed to get hold of it and turn it the opposite way. Wong's left hand was thrown to the side by the force of my strength alone, leaving his right hand still fighting to hang on to the blade and prevent me from gaining full control of his weapon. In the blink of an eye, the blade came down to the side with hardly any resistance at all and sliced straight through the sorcerer's wrist.

I jumped back in surprise, letting my hand fall from the hilt of the blade and I saw Wong's do the same. The sword clattered noisily to the stone floor of the tunnel and sparked with the golden energy that had been conjured along with it. Wong cried out in agony and I immediately stepped back to avoid what I assumed would be his vengeful retaliation. When he didn't turn back to me and remained hunched over in disbelieving painful silence, I suddenly felt my stomach roll as I realized what had just happened.

Wong's dismembered left hand lay on the floor of the dimly lit train tunnel, spatters of dark red blood staining the floor at our feet. With my mind nothing but panic, I threw myself forward to grab for the Sling Ring that still had remained on the sorcerer's left hand. Wong knew I would be going for the magical object however, and kicked me forcefully across the tracks when I hesitated too long by the disembodied hand on the ground.

"No matter…" Wong's voice was back to sounding icy and threatening again, which I took to mean that Thanos was in full control once more. I scrambled to my knees just as he leapt into the air with his bloody left sleeve pulled close to his side while his other hand shot out golden discs for him to climb through the air above me in an aerial attack.

"Wong…if you're still there…I'm really sorry!" I called up to him, feeling slightly less bothered by the fact that I had just cut off one of my teacher's conjuring hands. With murder in his eyes, it was slightly easier to justify protecting myself against his attempts at killing me. When he jumped for one final mandala at the very top of the tunnel's high ceiling, I quickly conjured up a glowing red energy whip and shot it straight up for where I knew Wong was about to leap into the air to come down on me with a bone shattering and possibly mortally wounding blow. The end of my red whip stuck to the underside of the floating mandala just as he landed on it and I hurriedly yanked downward with my magical whip and pulled the mandala out from under him, causing it to dissolve into golden dust before he knew what was happening.

_"You idiot boy!"_ Wong's voice echoed as he fell through the air for a few seconds before managing to catch himself on a hastily conjured mandala. I ignored him as I abandoned my red whip which had fallen through the air once the previous golden mandala had vanished. I gestured for Wong's left hand where it still lay on the ground several feet away from me and I watched as a small golden ball of light slowly lifted it into the air. I blanched as blood still pooled from the wrist of the hand and then gestured again with my other hand, singling out just the Sling Ring.

_"Give it up Thanos!"_ I shouted with a mix of sarcasm and anger. As the Sling Ring drifted closer, I heard Wong's feet hit the ground from behind me. I whirled around, still leaving my right hand out in wait for the Sling Ring to reach me. "You're not going to win this time…"

Wong's murderous expression relaxed only for a moment and then his eyes widened as he realized something that I didn't. He moved to turn around with his remaining hand extended to shoot out a half-conjured blast of disintegrating energy at his attacker, before a huge spurt of blood shot out of the middle of his chest.

_"Wong!" _I screamed out in horror. The sorcerer stopped in his attempt to turn around and wavered on his feet as his gaze drifted wearily back to where I stood, now in possession of the bloodied Sling Ring. A huge shard of wood impaled the man in front of me, looking very out of place in the stone train tunnel that we were surrounded by. Wong's arms dropped to his sides as all energy drained out of his body and I dove forward as if to catch him as he looked like he might fall to his knees. The sorcerer shook his head and attempted to swallow but blood already stained his lips from the extensive internal damage done to his body from the wooden stake.

"…last…defense…" He confirmed, his eyes glazing over with the pain of his end. I stood frozen to the spot and watched in shock as the huge wooden shard was pulled out of his chest from the back, letting his body slump to the ground in a bloodied heap.

I clenched my hand into a tight fist over the Sling Ring and stared at the hovering wooden stake that had just impaled my teacher. The red glow of the Reality Stone blinked into view then, revealing Thanos' taunting smirk and he cast the wood aside, letting the red glow spread around the entire space. Overturned bookshelves, display cases and damaged walls melted into existence in place of the dimly lit train tunnel. As it turned out, we had never even left the Sanctum's hidden library.


	27. The Last Defense

**Hello! I know it's been kinda rough waiting on updates here lately, but in this bitter-sweet time of quarantines and viruses going around, I've finally had a little me time and have been able to sit down and get some writing done. This chapter in particular is a combination of about 4-5 days of work and I really hope that it turned out okay. I just really wanted to get some content out because I honestly can't remember the last time I uploaded anything for you guys and I'm sorry for that. :( If this being out of work thing lasts much longer, I actually may finish this story and go on to another one and this time I promise I'll try better to follow through with consistent updates. Hope you enjoy this near-conclusion and please leave a review or a message for me on what you think! **

A long moment passed between us in silence in which I tried to dismiss Wong's bleeding body on the ground just a few yards away from me. Thanos seemed to be considering my possible reactions as well because he made no immediate movement to confront me. He chose to wait patiently, as he'd done in the kitchen before.

"…Was that really necessary?" I finally muttered through gritted teeth, my hands both clenched into fists, the one concealing the Sling Ring bulging slightly larger than the other by my side. Thanos' smirk tilted further in one direction in his grim amusement and when he opened his mouth to respond I grew suddenly even angrier. "That's literally the third person I've had impaled right in front of me today. Can't you think of _any_ other way if you really feel like you _have_ to kill someone? That's a pretty gory and dramatic choice of murder…"

"I try to make it a point to throw a bit of spontaneity into the unfortunate deaths of the people who choose to stand in my way. You must have caught me in the second cycle of my alternating methods." Thanos' sarcastic monotone replied. I glared up at him, shifting the Sling Ring in my palm into a better position for a quick use when I got the opportunity.

"Well I think that's ridiculous." I shot at him, keeping my gaze trained on the towering alien villain.

"I didn't ask for your opinion." Thanos scoffed lightly. He shifted his stance and I immediately stepped back, conjuring up my mandala shield with the hand not concealing Wong's Sling Ring.

"Don't move." I ordered him seriously. Thanos actually looked bored with my threat and he chuckled soundlessly to himself as he glanced down at the huge Gauntlet covering his left hand.

"You know, Alexander… if I willed it, I could simply just swat you aside and pull the Time Stone from your dying body without even batting an eye. I won't lose any sleep because of the events that occurred today. I didn't even have to _think_ about what I was doing as I destroyed the team of heroes that followed me here from Wakanda. It's like this Gauntlet knows exactly what I want before I even know it myself. All on its own, this powerful weapon turned them on each other and I never had a lift a finger against them." Thanos explained slowly, not looking away from the glowing Stones embedded on each of his knuckles.

_"Monster!"_ I exclaimed as I pieced together what he meant. The few remaining Avengers that had come to aid us at the Sanctum in fending off this awful threat had all met their end fighting against each other instead. Peter…Bruce…Rocket…Captain America…_everyone._

Thanos glanced up at me with disinterest, raising his left arm to conjure up his own Gauntlet-powered shield over his forearm as I reflexively morphed the concentrated power of my mandala into a discus shape and shot it towards him. The golden energy whooshed into a sparkle of dust upon reaching the overwhelming power of Thanos' Gauntlet and he turned his fist on me, shooting a small retaliating explosion of blueish energy straight back before I could block it. I was thrown backwards several feet, crying out as I rolled over my ruined shoulder for what felt like the tenth time in the past few hours.

"But I didn't want to do that with you." Thanos continued slowly and methodically. His giant boots padded along the floor as he approached me where I struggled to roll back up to my knees and then my feet. But before I could rise from my knees, his giant right palm clapped forcefully down on my good shoulder to hold me vulnerable to whatever attack or threat he had for me.

"No?" I chanced testily, turning my head up in his direction hesitantly. I still held the Sling Ring tightly in my palm, hoping more than anything that I would have the chance to use it in an effective escape from this monstrous alien's literal hold. He lifted his mouth in his ironic and knowing smirk, causing my anger to resurface into a glare of defiance up at him.

"No." He repeated gruffly, his eyes shining with some hidden meaning. "Because I've been watching you ever since I arrived at this place. You don't like this, do you?"

Confused, I just continued to stare up at him angrily in silence. He patiently waited for me to respond, keeping his hand on my shoulder in his nonchalant yet threatening way. I blinked after a moment and squeezed the Sling Ring in my palm even tighter to jolt myself back into reality with the slight pain from its pointed edges.

"What do you mean 'I don't like this'? I mean, if I'm honest, no. I don't like that you've brutally murdered the Earth's only defense team and I don't like that you're threatening me right now. I really don't like your presence at all, that's for sure…" I said, word vomiting everywhere out of my sheer anger and delirium. Thanos shook his head unblinkingly and shifted the fingers of his other hand agitatedly which resorted in a grating sound emitting from the huge Gauntlet there.

"You don't like being the one left with the responsibility of protecting the final Infinity Stone." He elaborated lowly, his smirk never wavering. Having been focused on discreetly moving the Sling Ring to my fingers without drawing Thanos' attention to my movement, I paused as I considered his observation.

"Well, yeah actually." I admitted softly, finally achieving my goal of slipping the Ring over my middle two fingers. I forced myself to keep my gaze trained on the alien villain's face to show that I was listening to him as I prepared to conjure up an illusion despite my already weakened abilities.

"I know that the job of protecting the Time Stone was supposed to fall on the Doctor whom I encountered on Titan." Thanos said simply. I raised my eyebrows at his scarily accurate knowledge.

"You're right. That's what he wanted you to think." I said nonchalantly. His smirk didn't waver at my disinterest but he finally removed his hand from my shoulder when he found that I was appearing to listen to him.

"There was a connection between the two of you, wasn't there? He was able to communicate with you once he placed the Stone in your care." Thanos speculated again, standing back up to his full height, a considering look in his proud face.

"There was." I replied simply, trying my best attempt at a poker face. He stared down at me patiently, his dark, beady eyes never leaving my face. "But it was crappy connection really. He had no intention of helping me figure out what I needed to do. That's why you so easily found me and the Stone when I'm sure Doctor Strange thought you wouldn't be able to."

"I always find what I seek." Thanos said in what I assume he thought was a mysterious way. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"So, it sounds to me like you're used to having everything your way. Must be pretty easy living with that kinda lifestyle going for you." I said through gritted teeth, trying unwisely to get a rise from the huge man. Thanos raised his chin in a nod of agreement and as an indication that he knew that I was being stubborn with him.

"I'm going to offer you a choice, Alexander." Thanos said, ignoring my snide comments. I crossed my arms across my chest as if I were considering his words, careful to conceal the Sling Ring on my hand. "You can give up the Stone willingly and either join me or stand aside. If you choose the latter, I _will_ kill you."

I continued my deep and serious staring contest with the Mad Titan, his threat weighing heavily in the silence of the room. He towered over me patiently and I noticed that every muscle in his overlarge purple alien body seemed completely at ease. I focused on keeping my breathing even, trying to slow my quickening heart rate as I tried to center myself for what I knew would happen over the next several moments. I blinked heavily, tearing my gaze away from Thanos' taunting expression and I stared at the debris covered floor at my feet.

"What exactly do you plan to do, Thanos? Once you get all of these powerful Stones? Because from what I hear, it sounds like you're going to destroy the whole planet." I said slowly. When I chanced a glance back up at him, Thanos' face was almost brighter with the opportunity to explain his elaborately thought out plan.

"The universe needs correction." He said lowly, looking down at his hands methodically as he rubbed them together. "The balance of everything is outweighed to one side and if it's not seen to…"

"Then you assume everything is going to end." I finished for him, getting the gist of his obviously heavily rehearsed villain speech. Thanos stopped his speaking and nodded with his knowing smirk.

"It will."

I shook my head up at him in angered disagreement, throwing my gaze to the huge Gauntlet and the Stones shining on the back of his fist in the dim lighting of the room.

"Sure…The world is no doubt all kinds of messed up…but it's not _your_ place to try and 'correct' it. This world, or any other world out there for that matter is _ever_ going to be perfect. We're all living here trying to make sense of everything when everything _doesn't make sense. _Leave while you're ahead, Thanos. This place isn't going to fall by your hand." I said as fiercely as I dared. I forced myself to remain calm in my stance, almost mocking Thanos' portrayal of ease in front of me. After a moment, Thanos' smirk faltered for a brief moment before he chuckled to himself.

"I'm sorry you don't see it my way, Alex. I really had grown tired of seeing so many wasteful losses today…" Thanos' voice rasped hollowly. My confidence wavered and I felt myself stand a little bit straighter at Thanos' change in tone. When the Gauntlet hummed to life with the five Infinity Stones glowing in preparation, I looked around hurriedly in sudden fear.

"I'm sorry too." I said quickly, still preventing myself from freaking out and running like I internally wanted to. Thanos smiled down at me, taking his gaze once more away from the Gauntlet where he had lifted it towards me. He seemed humored as he tilted his head to the side when I continued. "I'm sorry that you won't be getting the Time Stone from me today."

Thanos immediately lost his teasing smirk and his beady eyes widened in angry confusion as the illusion of me flickered out of existence. He turned to find me behind him, just as I jabbed a glowing mandala powered blade into his side. He let out a howl of outrage as the Gauntlet swung around and slammed for my midsection, but I reflexively blocked him with a hastily conjured shield. Before he could come around with his other fist, I had disappeared through a portal that transported me in a sneak attack behind him once more.

I hurled myself upward by magic alone and aimed a double-footed kick at the back of the Titan's shoulders. He reached back and grabbed me by my left leg, yanking me over his head and into the floor at his feet. I looked up hurriedly, trying to shake off the disorientation in my head and had about half a beat to conjure up my illusion before Thanos used the purple Infinity Stone to shoot out a blast of energy at the floor where my magical double had lain. When the illusion vanished and the floor beneath it caved in with the intensity of the Stone's power, the real me ducked through yet another portal only to reemerge on the other side of the room instead of my intended destination of the front room of the Sanctum. Thanos looked over in the direction where I had reappeared, punching his fist out in front of him and shooting another blast of purple energy towards me. Thankfully, I thought to raise my forearm to instinctually manifest a mandala shield before I could be disintegrated. When the fire ceased, I fell through another conjured portal, this once intending to drop me into the underground tunnels where I had first encountered Proxima Midnight what felt like forever ago.

Instead, my portal opened up in the floor just in front of Thanos' feet. There was a moment of confusion between the both of us and I was the first to react as I threw myself forward and slammed all of my body weight into the huge villain's torso. I immediately stepped back again and as I expected he dove forward to retaliate, knocking the both of us through the portal in the floor. He let out a roar of anger and I quickly conjured up another portal to pull me out of the path of his falling hulking body. I appeared by a ruined set of bookshelves in the center of the room just as I heard Thanos collide dully with the opposite wall where he had emerged on the other side of my conjured portal. Before he could make a move forward to me, I thrust out both of my hands in his direction, using a small bit of telepathic energy to send a huge chunk of shelving straight into Thanos' face. I ducked behind what remained the shelf I had appeared by, trying to breathe as what little adrenaline I still somehow possessed spread pain through my whole body.

That was when I felt her.

There was a whisper through the dimness of the ruined room, and I mentally blocked out Thanos' angry outbursts as he scouted the ruined library for me upon regaining his footing.

_"Alexander." _

I squeezed my eyes shut to center myself, letting out a ragged breath before opening them again. Cheering inwardly, I found that my senses were heightened and my energy was greatly replenished for the moment as my Third Eye was opened to the room around me. Faintly, I witnessed the room slowly seem to rebuild to the magnificence that it had been before in a ghostlike image through my temporary sight. The bookshelves were full instead of having been reduced to rubble, and the taxidermy animals were whole and unmoving in their assigned places on the shelves in the wall to my right. Though I knew everything had certainly been destroyed in reality, it was slightly more calming to see the room as it had been before this mayhem.

"Enough of these games…" Thanos' voice rumbled, slightly muted through my searching pause. There was an emphasizing explosion as he blew apart some already ruined bookshelf or piece of debris but in this half-world of seeing, it appeared to be one of the massive glass display cases holding an ancient sword. It crashed to the ground only a few yards away from me and I followed the weapon's descent to the wood floor, watching it turn into dust upon clattering once against the shining surface.

"Alexander." A lighter voice spoke up from directly in front of me. I flicked my gaze back and forth, trying to maintain my hiding place and pressed my back firmly against the bookshelf. The Enchantress flickered into existence just in front of me, clearly within Thanos' ability to see her.

"K-Karnilla…" I hissed, staring at her in disbelief. She held her dark eyed gaze on me steadily, not even flinching when Thanos destroyed a shelf even closer to us than the display case had been. The dozens of books that exploded outward from the toppling shelf didn't even make a sound as they disappeared before they could hit the wooden floor. The shelf made a hollow boom as it finally fell too and just like before, it sparkled out of existence right as it touched the ground.

"You won't win this fight, Alex." She said quietly, her serene gaze unblinking and pitying as she stared at me. I frowned with my chest heaving in exhaustion as she told me what I already figured was true. For some reason I felt led to hurriedly lower myself to the ground in a crouch, and Karnilla followed suit, her expression unchanging as the shelf behind me was blown in half by Thanos' purple energy blast. The top half sailed into one of the nearby taxidermy shelves and the horse head fell easily once the debris disintegrated with a whoosh of air rushing in to replace the immediate absence.

"I have to try." I insisted, turning in my crouch as I saw with relief that Thanos had moved in another direction with his rampage. "There's nothing else to do."

"That's where you're wrong." The Enchantress said softly, leaning in closer towards me. I deepened my frown and looked at her eager expression.

"If you're not planning on helping me…" I said warningly, raising my palm where it started to swim with golden light. She paused in her advance and her eyes looked suddenly pleading.

"Give me the Stone…I'll protect it with my magic, I swear to you. You can use Wong's Sling Ring to escape." She said quietly, her shining, serious eyes glancing up over my head where yet another flash of purple signified an explosion of another of the room's treasures. I shook my head, knowing that the Sling Ring was usless and stiffened against the half-bookshelf behind me.

"You sound just like him…you're working with him, aren't you?" I demanded, anger firing through me. My Third Eye's vision slipped momentarily and I witnessed purple flames dancing throughout the destruction of the hidden library. There was a sudden blast behind me and I realized that the bottom half of the shelf had finally been struck by Thanos' Gauntlet. I was thrown through the air in what felt like slow motion and when my Third Eye's vision randomly returned, I could see Karnilla's outstretched arms from below me upraised in my direction. The remnants of the bookshelf hung suspended around me and as I watched, they dissipated into nothingness, leaving me hovering in midair by the Enchantress' power.

"I assure you that I am not." She said lowly, her eyes wide with persistence. I regarded her worriedly from where I was held in the air above her and I had my answer as soon as I glanced up in the direction of Thanos' giant alien figure.

He was glaring knowingly in our direction, able to see me now that he had blasted me out of my hiding place. His massive Gauntlet was clenched into a fist in front of his chest and I could see each of the glowing Infinity Stones clearly as they were charged up for his final use against me. Panicking, I tried to move to duck his coming attack but found that I couldn't move my suspended limbs at all. I swung my fearful gaze down to Karnilla who still had her thin arms outstretched in my direction a few feet below me. She was the one preventing me from moving away and out of Thanos' path.

"You _are!_" I contradicted, my voice giving up my desperation. Her expression remained calm as she simply shook her head her bright eyes still unblinking as she focused her ancient power on holding me in the air.

"Look again, Alexander." She said chidingly. Her red lips were pursed with her tension and she patiently returned my stare until I finally tore my gaze distrustfully from her face and looked up at Thanos once more.

He hadn't moved from the position I had seen him in from my first glance.

"W-what did you do?" I squeaked in confusion. Thanos' jaw was clenched with his clear agitation and his body language revealed how intent he was on absolutely destroying me. Karnilla didn't respond until I looked back down at her again.

"I used what you've been too afraid to use against your adversary." She said simply, flipping one of her outstretched hands over to reveal a winding chain curled neatly in her palm. A bright green glow shone from the center where the familiar Eye-shaped pendant rested. Panicking, I tried to feel for my pocket where I had thought I'd kept it concealed but I was still held under the Enchantress' power and unable to move. I gaped helplessly down at her and when she lowered her remaining raised hand, I slowly drifted back to the ground, landing gently on my feet with the ability to use my limbs again.

"Oh my God…" I breathed in horrified disbelief, watching as Karnilla looked longingly at the necklace in her palm. Her heavy eyelashes brushed her smiling cheeks and when I slowly stepped forward, her eyes flicked up in my direction with lightning speed, halting me in my tracks. The terror and realization that I had somehow allowed the possibly evil Enchantress to retrieve the Stone from me caused my heightened vision from my Third Eye to melt away, leaving us standing in the middle of the ruined hidden library. As I stared back at Karnilla's critiquing expression, her red lips cracked into a smirk.

"Oh come on Alex, you know I don't have it." She said blandly, waggling the fingers of her open palm and causing the illusion of the necklace to disappear with a flash of shadows. Still wary, I carefully reached for my pocket where I hoped against hope that the real necklace still was hidden. Karnilla offered me a tired smile as I let out my breath upon finding the warm pendant still in the pocket of my robes.

"Then how…" I started, looking fearfully back up to where Thanos was still frozen in his anger across the room.

"Magic…duh. Not everyone needs enchanted objects like those heavily sought after jewels." Karnilla said nonchalantly. I caught her sideways glance however, and I turned all the way to face her, keeping my hand buried in the folds of my robes over the burning pendant.

"Then why are you afraid of him?" I demanded questioningly. She frowned at me, her crimson lips a dark upside down semicircle on her pale face. My eyes shot back up towards Thanos as I heard a distinctive clicking sound from his Gauntlet. The Enchantress too looked up hurriedly, taking a hesitant step back and raising her left hand in his direction. A swimming invisible force shot toward the Mad Titan where he had started to move and again he was forced into immobility once more. Karnilla flipped her head in my direction and waved her other hand to get me into motion.

"Use the Stone…I can't hold him for much longer!" She said hurriedly. As soon as she uttered the words, Thanos let out a roar of outrage, suddenly jerking to life and twisting his left hand, activating the blue Infinity Stone. Simultaneously, a swirling blue and black portal opened up behind him and he backed into it and out of the path of Karnilla's stasis spell. Thinking one step ahead, I hastily conjured my own portal and dove through it sensing that Thanos would be coming straight for me. When I reappeared just a few feet away instead of my designated destination of the upstairs hallway, I let out a muttered curse.

"Come on…" I growled in anguished irritation. Thanos apparently really did have a control over the room I was stuck in with him, preventing me from escaping his sight. When his blue and black portal exploded from where I had stood just a fraction of a second ago, I leapt back and through yet another portal that transported to the gaping hole in the wall behind Wong's still-bleeding body. When I reemerged on the other side of the portal, I moved to run directly through the hole Thanos' had torn through the room but instead I ran face-first into what felt like a solid brick wall.

"You think I'd let you run away that easily? We still haven't finished our talk." Thanos said, reappearing through his black hole-like portal when I whirled around to face him. My hand grasped at my face where blood trailed from my very probably broken nose and I hastily ran the sleeve of my robes across my upper lip.

"I'd say we're done." I said nonchalantly, blanching at the amount of blood that stained my sleeve when I pulled it away. Thanos shot out his left arm and before I could portal myself away or shield against him, his Gauntlet locked around my neck in a death grip.

"I don't delight in killing children." Thanos said icily. I struggled against his large fist and he pushed me roughly into the invisible border that I had just run into.

"Tell that to my friend, Dan." I said through the resurfaced grief-stricken tears that welled up in my eyes. I placed both of my hands on either side of the Gauntlet, feeling the intense and burning power that radiated off of the weapon. Unsurprisingly, I found the heat even more overwhelming than my few experiences with the Time Stone. With five other Infinity Stones powering the villain's Gauntlet, I felt imminently powerless to stop him.

"As I said…there were many unfortunate losses today." Thanos said lowly with a glimmer of remorse in his steely eyes. Anger filled me to the brim and I pulled my left hand away from the Gauntlet's surface to form a small golden sphere around my fist.

"_Pointless_ losses!" I shouted up into his face with defiance. He frowned at me deeply and his grip around my neck tightened threateningly. I raised my glowing fist, aiming straight for the side of the huge Gauntlet with the intent at hopefully either smashing into the weapon or melting it beyond use. My anger was so concentrated that I just might have achieved my goal had it not been for the Infinity Stones' powers unknown fully to me.

Without even looking away from my face, Thanos grabbed the purple Stone from the back of the hand that held me. Stopping my fist in mid-strike, he closed his fist and the purple Infinity Stone around the golden shield, obliterating the glow that had protected me from the blow I had planned to deliver to the Gauntlet. My brain switched into near blackout mode as a pain that no one to my knowledge had _ever_ experienced before burned straight through the Sling Ring and my hand. My mouth was open in a wide exclamation of shock and agony as it felt like my entire hand was engulfed in lava-like flames. I couldn't even tear my horrified gaze from Thanos' overlarge hand closing over mine, but I did look up in time to see his torturous grin as he crushed my burning hand in his fist, reducing every bone in my hand to broken pieces in his strong grasp. Choking out a gasp of incomprehensible anguish, my vision blurred to blackness for a brief moment as the Mad Titan jerked my arm backward and tore my already injured shoulder out of its socket. I shouted out a desperate cry of pain and Thanos finally released me, letting me fall to the ground in a heap of sobs on the edge of passing out.

"Now…I'm going to ask you one more time…" Thanos said effortlessly, walking away a few steps and then turning back to face me. "Are you going to hand it over like a good boy, or do I _really_ need to spill more innocent blood?"

I stared past the giant purple alien man, eyes wide and unbelieving as I took in the sight of my first dead body lying on the ground behind him. It was the first time I'd actually made myself look at Wong where he lay face down on the floor. From what I could see of him, the sorcerer seemed to have died with his familiar serene look on his face but that did little to comfort me. My breath hitched in my chest as I felt the scalding burn from the necklace resurface in my pocket. I couldn't take my eyes off of Wong's blood pooling on the ground just a few yards away from me.

"Well?" Thanos growled, a taunting look on his towering face. I flicked my gaze once more from the body to his gleaming eyes and felt myself lean away slowly, nearly losing consciousness from the throbbing pain emanating from my entire left arm. I prepared to shove my remaining functional hand into my pocket to retrieve what the Mad Titan wanted.

"A-Alright…" I managed to whisper, holding my good hand out in front of me to ward off the large Infinity Gauntlet five glowing Stones aimed right at me before I reached for my pocket. Thanos didn't lower his glowing fist, but a triumphant look twisted his mouth upward.

"I always assumed this Stone would prove to be the most challenging to get. Funny how you're finally choosing to make it easy for me." He murmured, watching my shaking hand as I moved it toward my pocket slowly. I hesitated as I heard his comment, trying not to let the angered confusion show too obviously on my face. I shook myself inwardly and felt my hand close over an empty space in my pocket, the burning sensation from the Time Stone now gone.

"I…"

Thanos raised his chin in a smug smirk, once more clenching the Gauntlet in a grating sound of metal against metal.

"Time's up…"

"No, Thanos…_your_ time is up." Karnilla's voice echoed over the villain's shoulder. Raising an eyebrow, Thanos slowly tore his gaze away from me where I lay in a crumpled heap to find the Enchantress where she stood on top of one of the overturned bookshelves. A familiar green light sparkled from her breast where the real Time Stone rested around her neck. Her hands were crossed in front of her where she prepared to use the Stone in all of its entirety.

"And who might you be?" Thanos asked her, cocking his head to the side as he regarded his new threat. Karnilla offered me a final sympathetic glance as she slowly swept her arms in front of her.

"The last defense." She murmured simply. Thanos caught her look and immediately whirled around, focusing his attention back on me where his Gauntlet still pointed. I didn't even offer the Mad Titan a glance as he returned the purple Stone to its rightful place on his knuckles, powering up his Gauntlet.

"Enough of your trickery, Alex…" Thanos said through gritted teeth. I shook my head slowly, my whole body feeling numb with the overwhelming pain I had experienced and the exhaustion that I had up until this point pushed myself through. Karnilla's face was regretful as she completed the spell to open the Time Stone that she now possessed. I smiled in relief as I felt my heartrate slow with acceptance of what would undoubtedly happen next.

"It's not a trick…" I whispered, staring blankly at the Enchantress behind Thanos. The villain scoffed down at me in irritation and fired a blast of colorful energy straight in my direction. Though I physically felt nothing, my eyes widened in surprise and unfocused involuntarily. The last thing I saw in my vision was a bright flash of green that emanated from the Mad Titan himself.


	28. Possibility

**Happy Easter everybody!**

I was in darkness. There was no sound, no feeling and no evidence at all that the world still even existed around me. I couldn't even tell if my eyes were open, or whether I was still touching the ground beneath me. Strangely enough, my confusion was overtaken by my weariness and grief at losing everyone who had tried to help me in my quest to protect the Time Stone.

Dan…my best friend who loyally stayed by my side even through the bizarre turn of events that had cast me into this new role of responsibility. The one who, despite being jealous of the attention and skills I was learning, had taken it upon himself and demanded to be taught the secrets and magic as well so that we could remain a team. He had proven himself to be a very useful ally in the battles and trials that we had gone through over the past few days, and had stayed by my side protecting the Time Stone right up until Thanos brought his life to an abrupt halt.

Peter…the boy who had blended in so well at school and who had been able to keep his Spidey secret hidden from everyone despite his very animated personality. The young hero that was ready for anything and everything and always willing to do what he could to help us in the short time that Dan and I had known him. He'd saved my life countless times in just the few hours I'd been in his presence and he'd even allowed me to feel what it would be like to be a real hero with super strength and nearly limitless powers and abilities.

Wong…Doctor Strange's closest ally and the only one who had known for sure what was going on when I'd been hastily thrown into the mess that came when the caped hero had been abducted. He'd patiently taught me enough to help me through my quest and though some of it was fun, he never let me take my eyes off of the seriousness of the coming issues. Along the way, sure, he experienced some jealousy and stress at the defiance I was throwing at him, but we managed to overcome it in the end. A loyal friend and colleague to Doctor Strange and a notable teacher to me and _my_ loyal friend, Dan.

Doctor Strange.

There wasn't much that I could say or think about him, but I certainly held many mixed feelings about the man. For one, he had been the one who had chosen me out of millions of other people in the world to protect the one thing that would prove to be one of the most dangerous objects in the galaxy. For another thing, he had left me nearly clueless about what I should do with the Time Stone once he'd given it to me. Over the past few days the same thought kept recurring in my mind: If the world came down to protecting this one Stone…why leave it with someone so inexperienced? Obviously Strange didn't expect one kid alone to learn enough magic or sorcery in such a short time to be even remotely able to accomplish the goal of keeping it away from the biggest threat in the known and unknown universe.

But then there was the knowledge that I had gathered from the past few days. Magic was real, as were ghosts and teleportation and telekinesis and numerous other things I'd only seen in movies and video games. I had flown, I had conjured up weapons and objects from thin air, I had switched bodies with a super hero for a brief moment, and I had even played with reversing and fast forwarding Time. If only I'd just had more of it…

"Alexander."

A familiar voice spoke out of the darkness, breaking the reflective calm I had been sitting through for who knew how long. My body didn't seem to want to respond when I tried to move toward the voice so I instead just remained wherever I was and waited for them to speak again.

"You can get up kid, the worst is over now." The voice said after a quiet pause. I tried to shake my head in reply as I found that I had no strength to speak either. The voice gave an amused sigh and in a flicker of dim, golden light I was finally able to see.

I stood in the huge library of the Sanctum, where everything remained untouched as it had looked the first day I had entered the place. The elegantly polished shelves filled with books and texts stretched across the length of the large room and I stood in the small sitting area in the midst of them, everything empty and silent in the quiet expanse of the room. I turned slowly to find that the large picture window was sparkling in the late afternoon sunlight, casting fragments of light to reflect on the nearby bookshelves and walls. A wave of calm had washed over the whole room and I almost felt compelled to sit down and relax in one of the plush leather armchairs behind me.

As I took in the sight of the seemingly untouched library, the voice behind me cleared their throat patiently. My reflex was to whirl around with my guard up and conjure up my golden mandala shields to ward off my unknown visitor, but my body somehow knew that there was no point in reacting that way. As I slowly turned, unthreatened to meet the room's other occupant I shook my head with a weary smirk.

"…Where have you been?"

Doctor Strange stood by the armchair opposite me, his velvety cloak billowing around him softly as if it were waving to me around the sorcerer's tall, thin form. I did notice that the large necklace that had originally housed the Time Stone before he'd given it to me no longer hung around his neck. The strings of the necklace still hung draped around Strange's neck, but the intricate pendant was missing, as if it had been torn away from its rightful place. There was a huge gash in the side of the sorcerer's cheekbone where the blood had long since dried. He stared at me levelly, allowing me a moment to process his presence and then took a breath when he realized that in my dreamlike state I really wasn't comprehending anything properly.

"Watching." He responded quietly.

"Oh." I nodded absently in acceptance. When I didn't say anything else for a moment, Strange stepped forward quietly.

"I suppose an explanation is required for what you've gone through these past few days."

Not looking at the sorcerer standing in front of me I raised both of my eyebrows as high as they would go and stared distantly at the perfectly polished library floor. If he only knew what had really happened at the Sanctum after he'd died. Now he was nothing but a ghost in the back of my mind, brought on by the trauma and exhaustion that took up the rest of my thoughts.

"Hell yeah I'd _better _get an explanation for all of this…" I scoffed under my breath. I looked up as Strange stood patiently across from me, a knowing gleam in his hard eyes. I cleared my throat softly and nodded to the side casually. "I mean…if you feel like giving me one, that is. It's totally fine with me if you want to keep it secret though – I've gotten kinda used to not knowing how things work around here."

Doctor Strange smirked halfheartedly down at me and glanced briefly down where his hands were clasped together in front of him. That's when I noticed the scars lining the backs of his knuckles and the slight but present tremors that seemed to ache them.

"When I gave you the Time Stone…I did it out of curiosity." He started to confess slowly, his voice sounding amplified in the silence of the library. "I knew that the threat was serious, and that I needed to find a safe hiding place for it before it was found and stolen for destructive purposes. But…I admit I probably shouldn't have given it to you just because you were the first person I saw."

"Uh…thanks…" I said slowly, scratching at the back of my head sheepishly. Strange shook his head.

"No, I gave it to you because for some reason you weren't affected by the Time Halt I had cast over the area. So it did mean something, but I knew that entrusting one of the most powerful entities in the universe to a seventeen year old kid was a bit much."

"I'm eighteen." I corrected him quietly. He blinked at me sharply and I fell silent, trying to listen to what he was offering in way of an explanation to me. So I jumped in trying to remind him of the direction the conversation was going to get him back on track. "You did it out of curiosity, right."

"There are many methods of use with the Time Stone." Strange continued, gesturing to the air by his side. He flicked his hands in perfect synchronization and the image of the Eye of Agamotto casually materialized in a golden mist, hovering in midair over the sorcerer's palm. "For instance…when last we spoke, I borrowed it for a brief time, remember that?"

"Yes…I do." I said taking my gaze off of the powerful glow of the Time Stone when he had called for my input suddenly. He nodded, seeing that he had my full attention again.

"I needed to explore all of the possibilities for the conflict involving Thanos. The Time Stone is the one of the only objects that can be used to access that sort of insight." Strange explained.

"That's neat." I said, genuinely interested. "I didn't get to investigate it that far, but that would've been fun."

Strange raised an eyebrow and then gave an almost indistinct wink in my direction. My eyes widened with sudden realization and I snapped my fingers, unable to get my thoughts out quick enough.

"I _did_ encounter something like that! I mean, _we_ did, Dan and me. He found this huge Orb thing in one of the display cases in the hallway downstairs…" I turned and pointed towards where I knew the entrance to the library was behind the rows and rows of shelves. "When Dan looked at it...he was able to see the probable future fight _hours_ before Proxima Midnight or anybody came down here."

"Ah yes, the Orb of Agamotto. Well spotted, and very smart of you to connect the two. Yes, the Eye and the Orb are related in a sense. The Orb does get its power from the Time Stone, so it's very likely that you and Dan were able to peek into the near future just by looking at it since the Time Stone remained in such a close proximity to it." Strange explained lightly.

"Well, that's the thing…I technically didn't get to see anything with it because that was when…"

"When I intervened and took back the Stone to…"

"To do your future seeing thing, yeah." I finished for him, suddenly wanting more of an explanation. "So what all did you see? Did you find a way to beat Thanos? I don't know how long Karnilla can hold him…"

"I did find a way to stop him." Doctor Strange said lowly, turning soundlessly to meet my suddenly frantic gaze at remembering the devastating scene from the hidden room in the center of the Sanctum.

"Then we need to hurry and help her, don't we? I can't believe I…" I stopped and then blinked in confusion. My stare lingered on Strange's serene face before I slowly clutched at the front of my robes, as if trying to feel that I was even still standing there. When my fingers wrung wildly at the fabric, I lowered my hands in front of myself to examine them. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, a warning bell sounded in my head. Thanos had nearly obliterated my left hand what felt like just moments before, crushing it into a useless clump of bone and flesh with the Power Stone. But here both of my hands were, seemingly unscathed. I paused as I tried to let my thoughts catch up. "Wait a minute…it wasn't real…was it?"

"Real?" Strange repeated gently. I stared at the ground past my palms for a moment before looking back up at the sorcerer. Even his velvety cape seemed to pause in its rippling movement, sensing the somber change in the atmosphere.

"The whole thing. It was all just another test, wasn't it? None of it actually happened."

I felt my whole sense of being almost evaporate as the realization struck me. None of the effort I had put in, or the actions I had taken had proven to be useful in the long run at all. The man standing before me had given me a task just to see if I would be able to complete it, no different than the numerous trials and tests that Wong had put me and Dan through in our training.

"…In this possibility, it was absolutely real." Strange answered me after a long moment spent in hopeless silence. I looked back up at him with disbelieving eyes, my hands curling in on themselves and falling back to my sides.

"Then does that mean…" I stopped as my voice cracked. Strange remained still and patient as I tried to formulate the words. "Did he…kill me? Did he win?"

"In this possibility." The sorcerer repeated solemnly. My eyes widened and I lowered my head once more to look down at my hands. I flexed them once more and suddenly found that I couldn't feel the overwhelming pain from my ruined shoulder, and my throat caught as that signified Strange's confirmation.

"And Karnilla…?"

"The Enchantress was able to hold Thanos off for only a short time before he overpowered her. In some possibilities, she led him on a wild goose chase across the galaxy but the Mad Titan still succeeded even then." He shrugged nonchalantly. "In some possibilities, she was never let out of her prison."

I met his chiding gaze and I offered him an apologetic look, remembering how she had been released from the skull in the display case. He waved one of his hands dismissively as if untroubled by my choices in this timeline before he continued.

"And in some…I never gave you the Time Stone at all."

I gaped up at the sorcerer in amazement, trying to wrap my head around the fact that in other timelines unknown to me now, I had never met Stephen Strange, I had never learned magic from Wong, and I hadn't lost Dan to the most dangerous alien in the universe.

"So…does that mean that in some possibilities, you didn't die? And you were able to come back and take care of the Time Stone yourself?"

"Yes, but that too failed eventually." He admitted. I frowned as I considered the fact that the Sorcerer Supreme himself hadn't been able to protect the Time Stone from the Mad Titan. That made me feel only slightly better about myself and my own attempt.

"So what does this mean now? Is it really over?" I asked, looking around uncertainly at the calming scenery of the large and elegant library.

"Yes, it seems for this reality this is how it ends for you." He responded gently. Something suddenly didn't sound right to me and I looked up at the sorcerer with a new defiance.

"If this possibility supposedly wasn't the right one, meaning that Thanos didn't succeed…then why did you continue to let me try to think I could stop him? Why not stop it in the middle of things and shift it to another timeline?"

"I had to be thorough in my viewing of each possibility, Alex. In this particular scenario, you did perish in protecting the Stone. But even after your death, the Enchantress took it upon herself to protect the Time Stone, and used it against Thanos to try and prevent him from obtaining it. She failed to realize that the Titan had learned quickly the extent of each Stone's ability and he was able to outsmart her with his skillful use of them merely ten minutes after she had been in possession of the Time Stone." Strange recited hastily, as if reading the events from the air above my head.

There was a brief moment of coldness that set in me after he concluded that Karnilla had fallen by Thanos' hand too. I didn't know what had caused me to feel any sense of mourning for the Asgardian Enchantress who had seemed to do nothing but taunt me with her ancient witticisms. Strange seemed to notice and he raised an eyebrow in surprising notation.

"You know, it's curious…you were able to get through to her far better than I ever was. When I met her a few years back, the Enchantress that I witnessed was power hungry, bloodthirsty and absolutely vengeful. I never quite understood her whole story, but as I understood from your perspectives in each of the possibilities that I viewed, she seemed to take an interest in you. And she seemed to want to spare you the torment and devastation of holding the Stone against Thanos…that's why in each of the scenarios I witnessed, she made every attempt to take the Stone from you. Not for herself, but almost to protect you…which is very rare for her character."

I narrowed my eyes at the man standing in front of me, only a shred of me wanting to believe what he was telling me. I shook my head and clasped my hands in front of me abruptly.

"I know that you're only trying to find a nice way to tell me that I failed. And you know what…it's okay, really. I'm just sorry that I wasn't good enough for whatever you needed." I said, struggling internally to keep a neutral expression on my face. Strange studied me in silence as I finally tore my gaze away from him to look back throughout the large room that we stood in. I recounted all of the beauty that the Sanctum had once been before the battle against Thanos and his goons had reduced it to rubble and ruin.

"I'm sorry, Alex."

I hesitated for a breath before turning back to Doctor Strange who still held his knowing, serene gaze. His eyes shone with the emotion that his face didn't seem capable to share as he offered me his hand.

"Will you accept an old guy's apology? I'm still relatively new at this game too, you know."

I offered him a weary smirk and thrust my hand into his, shaking it formally. His goatee twitched upward in a half smile as he released my hand and heaved a great sigh.

"After seeing and living through over 14 million possibilities, I've only found one outcome in which Thanos doesn't accomplish his goal. And I regret to inform you…you're not a part of it." He said as gently as he could.

Relief flooded through me as well as disappointment. So he really was telling me that I had gone through all of the events of the previous few days for nothing. I had learned an impossible feat by performing magic and conjuring spells and teleporting throughout a secret mansion without my actions benefiting in the long run at all. Strange seemed to notice my discouragement because he clapped a hand on my shoulder fondly. I winced reflexively but then found that the injuries I had sustained were apparently nonexistent.

"Would it help to ease your mind if I told you that you won't remember any of this?" He offered hopefully. I relaxed only slightly as I realized that had even been an option.

"Um…"

"Like I said, this is only one of millions of outcomes. Of course I'm going to encourage the route of the one that will bring about Thanos' downfall." Strange said obviously.

"Of course," I made myself scoff lightly, as if I hadn't been worried that there would be nothing else for me to face except the reality of my death. Strange smirked halfheartedly down at me and patted my shoulder.

"When this ordeal is actually over though, I just may bring you in about the Enchantress' case. We'll see if she'll still open up to you without the threat of Thanos hanging over everything."

"Cool. And maybe you'll teach me all there is to know about magic yourself if that does ever come up?" I asked hopefully. Strange chuckled and nodded smartly.

"Maybe." He said gently. I took a deep breath and straightened myself in a kind of salute to the sorcerer standing in front of me. It all seemed kind of final and I felt a depressing sadness wash over me. Without thinking I threw myself at Doctor Strange and hugged the man who I'd known only a short time. The man who I had to blame all of my actions and frustrations on. The man who had introduced me into the hero world, allowing me to feel like I had been able to accomplish almost anything. I felt my eyes well up with tears as I recounted all of the stressful situations I had gone through and I felt the man's hand pat me on the back as he uncomfortably tried to console me.

"Thank you…" I said, my voice quiet. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity."

Strange pushed me gently back into an upright stance and offered me his serene smirk.

"Thank you for helping me to see." He retaliated with a slightly ironic smirk. He raised his eyebrows as a thought suddenly sprung to his mind. "Oh…and let me just give you a quick tip…"

"Yeah?" I prompted him, genuinely not knowing what sort of advice he'd be giving me. He swirled his hands in an expertly practiced motion and his palms glowed with warm, golden light as he paused mysteriously.

"Her name is Emma."

I barely had time to screw my face in confusion before Doctor Strange was nothing but a silhouette in the golden glow slowly taking up the entirety of the Sanctum Sanctorum's library. The Cloak of Levitation suddenly lifted him into the air and I saw a flash of green break through the golden light as Strange continued to conjure some kind of spell. I smiled almost sadly as I watched the Doctor disappear and I finally allowed myself to be overwhelmed by the magical glow.


	29. Epilogue

I stared straight ahead at the array of strewn cars and people running, my mind a blur as I tried to think about what was going on. I was running as fast as I could, dodging past other fleeing civilians and hearing nothing but screams and sirens and the thundering wind from the large spaceship that hovered in the sky above us. My heart was hammering as a strange sense of déjà vu washed over me, brought on by the current situation I was in.

"Look out!" Dan suddenly shouted, pulling me around the corner of a building as a nearby lamppost fell down as a result of a car spinning out of control into its base. We both ran down the next street, this one nearly empty of people, but equally littered with abandoned cars. We were nearly right underneath the giant circular spaceship, and I looked straight up at the bottom of it in wonder as Dan tried to drag me forward.

"Dan, we've gotta get back!" I shouted at my friend as a bright beam shot down from the undercarriage of the alien ship. I immediately pulled us both out of harm's way and ducked behind a car as the beam hit the road behind us with a deafening boom that shook the ground.

Dan and I sat crouched behind the vehicle, breathing heavily as adrenaline pulsed through our veins. Silence filled the street, everything suddenly unmoving around us. Afraid to even breathe I just stared at my friend for a long time, waiting for the moment that we would both very probably meet our demise.

I held my gaze on him for a few seconds longer, a feeling surfacing about a time when I had been without my right hand man. I shook it off, telling myself that we had been by each other's side since that morning when I had picked him up on the way to school for the field trip and that we had just spent the last ten minutes running in a fearful panic from what only could be described as a scene from a horror movie.

"Hear me, and rejoice…" An odd voice said from behind us. I threw a panicked look over my shoulder and scooted closer out of sight, still not seeing the source of the voice. "You are about to die by the hands of the children of Thanos…"

"Oh my God…" I hissed fearfully, cringing before the impact I expected would happen any second now. Dan was crawling away from me, wanting to see the source of the threatening voice. He suddenly stopped, straightening slightly and turning to tap me on the arm.

"Alex…_look!_" He said hopefully, pulling me forward.

"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today! You'd better pack it up, and get out of here…"

I stared past the hood of the wrecked car we hid behind, hardly believing what I was seeing in front of me.

"That's…that's Tony Stark!" I hissed, shaking Dan in disbelief. "And…and Doctor Strange!"

"And Bruce Banner!" Dan nodded knowingly and slowly pointed out who and what the assembled heroes were facing. Just a few yards away from us, their backs thankfully turned to the cowering kids behind them, were a couple of the strangest looking beings I had ever seen. There was a large hulking one with what looked like a dangerously heavy axe and a shorter, skinnier one who was doing the talking for the pair of them.

"Stonekeeper!" The thinner alien called. Doctor Strange nodded, acknowledging the alien's attention. "Does this chattering animal speak for you?"

"Certainly not, I speak for myself." Doctor Strange stepped forward decisively conjuring up glowing golden discs over his fists as he spoke. My eyes widened in surprise as I realized what was about to go down just a few yards from us. "You're trespassing in this city and on this planet."

"He means get lost Squidward!" Tony Stark called as an afterthought when neither of the threatening aliens made a move. Dan arched his neck a little higher to see what the smaller alien really looked like to cause Tony to name him after one of the characters of the most annoying show on Earth.

"Get down, or they'll see us!" I hissed, dragging him backward as the larger alien made a shuffling move in preparation for their battle. The big guy growled a warning and slammed his weapon into the ground, causing the car Dan and I were hiding behind to rock violently.

"Alex, look he's going to turn into the Hulk!" Dan said once we had regained our balance behind the car. Dan was on his knees, peering through the side window of the car to see the big alien guy stalking menacingly over to the four men down the street. I looked where my friend was pointing and could see indeed that Dr. Banner looked like he was trying to flex his muscles, turning a light shade of green.

"Woah…" I said in surprise as the ordinary sized man seemed to grow slightly larger and then shrink back to his normal size. After a moment, I squinted seeing that Tony Stark was tapping his own thigh agitatedly as he waited for his fellow Avenger to turn into his alter-ego.

"I don't think it's working…" Dann said, ducking a little lower to remain out of sight, but still wanting to see the action down the street. That's when I noticed that the talkative alien with the other worldly accent was still right in front of us, watching his giant alien buddy trudge over to the waiting heroes.

"Dan, we've gotta move!" I said quickly, pulling him away from the wrecked car. "We're too close to this!"

"Alex, wait!" Dan protested as an explosion of sorts sounded from where the few heroes were. I looked up quickly as Dan and I shuffled away from our hiding spot, seeing that Tony Stark had been replaced by Iron Man, his gleaming metal suit shining in the afternoon sunlight. The big alien, even angrier than before shook itself and once more ran at the waiting group.

"Run!" I said as Iron Man fired at the big guy once more. Dan didn't argue this time, weaving over the debris and between the cars as we scrambled for another hiding place. We were interrupted by another loud boom as the giant alien was thrown into the car we had just been hiding behind a moment before.

For a few seconds there was nothing but the sound of grating metal as the alien skidded to a stop and tore through the road, collecting a few cars along the way. I pulled Dan around the corner of the nearest building just as the few trees along the sidewalk were suddenly yanked out of their places in the ground. My head jerked around wildly to find the source of the flying trees and I spotted the other thinner alien moving his fingers, causing the trees to fly towards the heroes with his movement.

"Telekinesis!" Dan breathed, impressed. I shook my head, refusing to be excited about this battle we were both witnessing. I watched in disbelief as Doctor Strange set up a floating car for Iron Man to blast towards the other waiting alien and held my breath in anticipation as it flew speedily towards him. With a casual wave of his hand, the car split in two, just barely missing the thinner alien.

Iron Man shot himself towards the still standing alien and was suddenly thrown backwards as the giant alien had regained his composure. He shot out a huge chain that propelled the hero all the way down the block towards the park nearby.

Doctor Strange still stood alongside his other magical friend, creating large glowing portals that sent the thinner alien's flying bricks right back to him. Dan pulled me back around the corner of the building as the debris shot into car windshields and the sides of the building we were hiding behind.

"We're going to die here!" Dan suddenly exclaimed, fear causing his voice to squeak. I whirled around in surprise as I could see Doctor Strange fly past the alleyway, his red cape catching my eye.

"The Avengers are here, they're gonna take care of this! We are _not_ gonna die…"

I once more leaned out of the alley to see where the cloaked hero had gone. My eyes widened as I caught the sight of him hanging upside down from the building right above us, the pale, thinner alien floating right in front of him and reaching for something around his neck. The bricks were formed over the magician's body, encasing him in a tight grip.

"Okay…yeah, we might." I relented before leaping back as the alien guy yanked Doctor Strange roughly out of the bricks and threw him angrily to the street below, just a few feet from where Dan and I were hiding. Doctor Strange landed with a pained grunt before pulling himself up and motioning with his hands across his chest, and the golden necklace around his neck started to glow an otherworldly shade of green. I stared in awe as magical green bands of light appeared around his wrists, rotating with the pulses of energy the man was conjuring as he kept his eyes trained on the alien above him. Suddenly his gaze flicked thoughtfully back down and I froze as I felt his eyes land on me. I blinked in surprise and then hurriedly ducked back into the alley while Dan still looked eagerly around the side of the building like he hadn't noticed the magician's astonished stare.

"Oh my God!" Dan whirled around from the corner of the alley a millisecond later, shoving me forcefully in the opposite direction. I frowned in confusion and could see that the magical hero had been strangled to unconsciousness by telekinetically controlled metal bands from the street. The powerful man was now lying on the ground by the mouth of the alley, unmoving.

"What do we do?! We should help him…" I said unsurely as Dan gave up on pushing me back and ran for the safety of the shadowy end of the alley himself.

"Alex, _no!_ There's no way we can get past that!" Dan called over his shoulder. I turned back to stare in horror at the downed hero and as I uncertainly moved toward the opening of the alley, the ground cracked and seemed to rise up beneath him, hoisting Doctor Strange's unconscious body up into the air and out of sight in mere seconds. I looked up to see the pale alien guy floating in the air alongside it and my heart skipped a beat when I saw what looked like Strange's lifeless body soaring through the air away from the threat.

_"No!"_ The alien growled angrily, gesturing with his hand abruptly before he flew through the air after the magical sorcerer. A second later, the huge chunk of concrete that had lifted Doctor Strange into the air crashed to the ground across the street from us. Two feminine screams rang out simultaneously from the impact point and I stared in that direction in confusion, thinking that Dan and I had been the only ones stupid enough to be this close to the very real battle between the Avengers and the two alien threats.

_"Alex!"_ One of the voices screamed shrilly, echoing throughout the now deserted street corner. Dan was suddenly at my side, peering across the street as well where the debris had landed.

"Jillian?!" I called back in hesitant recognition. Over the huge mountain of upended concrete, I saw two hands waving in our direction frantically.

"I don't believe it…" Dan muttered in halfhearted amusement. I glanced over at him questioningly before I noticed the smirk spreading across his face. He slapped my shoulder and moved past me toward the mouth of the alleyway to look out at the seemingly empty street. "The girls from the bus…they followed us!"

"We're coming – stay there!" I shouted in reply to the two girls. I followed Dan to the edge of the building, each of us peering in opposite directions to make doubly sure that the aliens and the Avengers were out of the area and occupied elsewhere. I made a dash out of the alley unthinkingly and lunged for a car that had jumped the curb right in front of us. Dan followed a beat later and we paused for a moment against the vehicle, waiting to see if our movement had struck the attention of anything in the nearby vicinity.

"This doesn't feel real…" Dan murmured as he moved back into a crouch, edging along the side of the car we hid behind.

"I know…" I agreed, mentally trying to prepare myself for the next jump across the street. We both hesitated for another second or so before I led him away from the safety of the car's shield.

The whole street was deserted, though it definitely looked like a war zone. The concrete for yards and yards was stripped away in several places, and dozens of ruined vehicles were spread every which way as far as my eyes could see. Even the buildings lining the street were damaged, with their windows shattered and doors ripped off of hinges.

"Watch out!" Dan hissed, pulling me down to the ground as what sounded like a jet zipped by overhead. I caught a flash of red armor shining in the sunlight before Iron Man disappeared over another nearby building. I heard a metallic rumble and I whipped my head around in time to see a street lamp, bent dangerously forward by the previous battle, edge slowly closer to the ground from the vibrations of Iron Man's supersonic passing. The two girls behind the huge heap of rubble screamed as the light fell the rest of the way forward and landed over the mountain of concrete by where they were hiding.

"Come on!" I shouted at Dan who had watched the towering street lamp fall in disbelief just as I had. We both leapt over the wide base of the downed light and rounded the upended chunk of road to find both of the girls crouched against the backside of the rubble, sobbing hysterically. Upon seeing that we had arrived, Jillian threw herself at me, her face a waterfall of tears.

"Oh my God, what's happening?!" She sobbed into my shoulder. The other girl had wrapped her arms around Dan in the same way and his eyes were wide with surprise as he slowly tried to come up with anything to say that would comfort her.

"It's okay, I think it's over…" Dan murmured to her. The girl shook her head and swiped a hand under one of her eyes where the mascara had started running down her face.

"They're gone?" The blonde girl asked, almost pleadingly. I glanced up at the huge circular spaceship, noticing that it had moved away from where it had previously been spinning right over our heads moments before.

"Yeah, it looks like they're leaving…" I said thoughtfully, squinting up into the sky where it hovered ominously. For a millisecond of a moment, I thought I could see a tiny human shaped figure struggling along to outside of the alien spaceship but when I blinked again, the sun prevented me from seeing anything more than the general outline of the huge thing.

"Did you see the Avengers? Gosh…I'd only ever seen stuff like this on the news _after _it happened!" Dan said lightly, his excitement starting to resurface.

"Those were real aliens, weren't they? They were so close to you guys!" Jillian said, pulling away to look up at me worriedly.

"Yeah…it definitely wasn't a good idea to come this way…" I said sheepishly, looking her over for any bruises or scrapes. "Are you girls hurt?"

"No, I don't think so." The blonde girl spoke up from where she had her head on Dan's chest in a super tight embrace.

"Why did you follow us?" Dan asked, glancing down at the girl in his arms. "That was pretty dangerous…"

"We didn't know where else to go…everyone was running in every direction so we figured we might be safer with you guys…since we know you and all." Jillian answered him, glancing away from me for only a brief second before looking back up at me sheepishly. I felt a warmth spread across my face and she smiled shyly as she noticed it, looking away as a blush colored her cheeks too.

"We'd better get to somewhere safer." I said, clearing my throat abruptly. Dan nodded and slowly peeled the blonde girl's arms off of him, exchanging it for a firm grasp of her hand.

"Right, the ship seems to be leaving, but there may still be some aliens down here we should watch out for." Dan chipped in smartly, making a show of peeking over the side of the concrete mountain behind us. "You girls stay back while we try to scout the area before we move."

I followed Dan's hand wave and when I had moved to a crouch by his side I couldn't help but smirk playfully at my friend. He responded with a light punch to my shoulder and he then pulled me close to whisper in my ear, looking as if we were actually making battle plans.

"I've got a problem…" He hissed to me. I frowned and nodded back to the girls who were standing fearfully together a few yards behind us. Surely the fact that the attractive girls had followed us into danger from the bus clouded any other problems we may have.

_"Look out!"_ Jillian screamed suddenly. I glanced back at her and found that she had one hand pressed to her mouth and the other pointing above us. When I whirled back around, I noticed that the street lamp that had fallen just a moment before was sliding dangerously down the heap of rubble and down towards where Dan and I were crouching.

_"Dan!"_ I exclaimed, jerking my friend into motion. Instead of running, we both braced ourselves against the sidewalk beneath our feet and caught the massive street lamp as it rolled down onto us. We held it together just by our combined strength alone before we both heaved it back over the peak of the concrete mound, hearing the echoing metallic tone as it rolled back down the opposite side of the rubble.

Dan and I looked at each other in disbelieving surprise for a breath before both girls swarmed us once more, holding us tightly as if they'd thought we were really going to be crushed by the cheaply installed New York street light. I felt my relieved blush creep over my face once more as Jillian planted a kiss on my jaw and nearly let out a burst of laughter when I caught a glimpse Dan whose hair was being clenched and unclenched by the blonde girl as she warbled on and on about how worried she had been when that lamppost had fallen.

"Hey…is everybody okay back here?!"

The four of us froze as a thin, disheveled looking man rounded the side of the concrete mountain, his face a mask of confusion as he caught sight of the scene playing out on the ruined sidewalk. I was the first to say anything, recognizing the scientist before even Dan could.

"Dr. Banner?"

"Y-yeah. Are you kids alright?" The man responded, glancing behind him timidly before he moved closer to our group. In his hand he held a vintage looking cellphone which he must have been about to use to make a call before the amount of noise and screaming we had just done had called his attention over to us.

"We're fine now," Dan said, wrapping his arm around the blonde girl who had ceased her dramatic tears when the adult had come upon the scene. Bruce Banner considered us all for another moment before he thumbed over his shoulder.

"Well, let's get you all out of here. I'm sorry you had to be that close to all this…mess" He said slowly. We filed past the man to find that other civilians were now starting to emerge from their hiding places, all with haunted, terrified looks on their faces. Dan and I walked side by side with Jillian on my right and the blonde girl on his left. After a few seconds, he leaned back over to whisper in my ear.

"What I was trying to say before..._I still don't know what her name is!_"

"_That's_ your problem?" I tried to stifle my grin as I cleared my throat and glanced over at the blonde girl who still wiped her hand in an attempt to clean off her ruined makeup. My smile faltered as a voice spoke through my head distantly, a voice that I seemed to know but also didn't.

_"…Her name is Emma." _

I frowned in confusion, trying to grasp at any other memories that tried to break through. A vision of swirling red cloaks, flailing weaponry and antique architecture flashed briefly through my mind along with a familiar golden glow. When I hesitated for perhaps a bit longer than I intended, Dan nudged me gently and I flipped my attention back to my waiting friend.

"Emma." I repeated softly to my friend who raised his eyebrows in surprise. He stared at my face for a moment questioningly and then turned to his left where the girl was now trying to fix her hair.

"Are you sure you're alright…Emma?" He asked slowly, his voice rising on the last word of his question. The girl smiled widely up at him and hooked her arm through his fondly.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine now that you're here." She murmured sweetly. I smirked as Dan mouthed a word of thanks to me and I turned to Jillian who was watching the scene beside us too. She followed her friend's actions and looped her arm with mine and leaned her head on my shoulder as we followed the crowd to a row of waiting rescue vehicles.

"Alex…do you think it's possible that the attack on New York happened just to bring us together?" Jillian asked me quietly, mimicking Emma's swooning of Dan. I looked at her in surprise and she broke into a teasing smirk and nudged me jokingly. I pulled her closer to my side and nodded in consideration, suddenly serious through the lighthearted bantering.

"Yeah, you know…I think anything is possible."

~ End ~

**Hope you guys enjoyed my first Avengers fanfic! I'm hoping to do another in the near future maybe, but for now, I'm moving back to Ghostbusters to sustain my frustration at the release of the new movie being postponed for another year because of this virus scare...so if you don't mind, please keep a lookout for my next fanfic which is going to be a crossover of Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice. Thank you again for sticking with me through my inconsistent updating schedule on here and I thank you for the many reviews and messages I received from you guys! Don't hesitate to stay in touch, I'm always looking for ideas on how to better my writing! Thanks again, love you all! :D**


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